Summer is a great time for the gardening enthusiasts amongst us. However summer also brings an influx of patients into the clinic here in Ballincollig because of gardening related injuries. The most common injury I see in gardeners are back and joint pain. I am not telling you to stop gardening but what I am going to do is give you a few little tips to allow you to work pain free in your flourishing gardens;
1. Gardening is a work-out and like any other work-out it is important to warm-up so do not go straight out to the garden to do the heavy jobs, stretch first or else start with light work.
2. What are you wearing? Don’t wear anything that restricts movement and ensure you are warm enough too, especially in the summer evenings when it turns cool. It’s a lot more important than you may think to keep warm enough to prevent cold stiffening up the back muscles
3. Don’t over exert, use light relaxed movements especially when digging or weeding
4. Use a proper Kneeling Pad for all ground work and take regular breaks and as always, stretch.
5. Whatever it is that you are working on (pots, bushes, flower beds etc) be close to it. Do not over reach, invest in long-handles pruners (secateurs) if necessary
6. Get somebody to help you especially with the heavier work and especially if you are doing any lifting
7. Vary your activity – don’t just dig all day because trust me you will feel it
8. By stretching regularly and with these little tips you should avoid any injury. However if you do hurt yourself, stop working and if the pain persists please do not hesitate to phone the clinic here on 021 487 84 65 and we will happily advise you how best to treat the pain and even tell you if you requite chiropractic treatment
