It’s the time for Gardening…folks. I am sure most people consider gardening as a safe leisure activity, but the reality is that gardening can also result in as many injuries as sports. The reason behind that is we consider it as a casual fun activity and so forget to do any warmups or stretches to prepare for the gardening tasks. It includes repetitive movements and repetitive positioning like kneeling, bending over, and sitting which are common causes of injuries or muscle strains. 

In addition, with warmup and stretches, certain precautions are also very handy while gardening.

These include:

• To use a stool for weeding or planting

• Take frequent breaks in order to avoid prolonged positioning.

• Balance your activities, for e.g., light tasks for around 15-20 minutes and then heavy tasks like digging for another 15 minutes.

• Remember to go in a half squat when lifting heavy bags of dirt rather than bending forward fully.

• Keep the heavy stuff/load close to your body while carrying it and avoid twisting from the back while lifting or putting things down.

• Rather than twisting from your back, try to turn your feet or hips to complete your tasks and avoid putting stress on your back.

The most common injuries while gardening include:

• Low back pain

• Neck pain

• Shoulder tendonitis

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

• Lateral epicondylitis

• De Quervain’s tenosynovitis

If you are having trouble getting back to gardening safely please reach out, we can help.

Happy Gardening.