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Five Ways to Avoid Back Pain Over the Holidays

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December is just a few days away and with it, the season for eating great food, spending quality time with loved ones and sharing cherished traditions. Unfortunately, all of the hustle and bustle can also bring you an unwelcome gift — back pain.

Holiday activities such as shopping, wrapping gifts and skating can cause your muscles to work in ways they’re not usually used and can result in neck, shoulder or back pain.

Try these five tips to reduce your chances of pain and strain:

1. Ergonomic Gift Wrapping

After searching high and low for the perfect gifts, it’s time to wrap them up! Rather than spreading out on the floor, use a dinner table or desk. This will make it easier for you to use good posture. Just remember that sitting in one position for too long can put additional strain on your body. Take frequent breaks and stretch your hands, wrists and forearms by clenching your hands and relaxing.

2. Strain-Free Snowman

Building your very own Frosty the Snowman is top of mind for many children once the snow falls. Roll your snowballs into place and work together as a team to lift them when you’re ready. And remember, rule number one is to lift with your legs, not your back!

3. Lift Light to Shovel Right

When shovelling your driveway, let your legs and arms do the heavy lifting instead of relying on your back, and push the snow to one side to avoid throwing it. If you must throw it, avoid twisting and turning — face your snowbank and throw the snow straight into it.

For more helpful shovelling tips, see this post: Follow These Tips for Avoiding Injury While Shovelling This Winter

4. Stretch, Skate and Snowboard

It’s time to sharpen your skates and grab your snowboards! To prevent injuries that can plague you for months, remember to stretch before and after you hit the slopes or ice.

A basic go-to is the hamstring stretch:

  • Stand tall next to something you can hold on to for support.
  • Prop the back of one heel up on a surface like a stair, curb or bench and pull your toes back towards you.
  • For a deeper stretch, bend forward slightly at the hips.
  • Hold the stretch for 30 seconds on each side.

5. Holiday Shopping

Carrying all those bags may be a productive way to move through your Christmas list, but it’s not great for your back. Consider taking a trip to your car to drop off your bags and lighten the load. If that’s not reasonable, take breaks and set your bags down or use a backpack to help distribute the weight.

 

Take care of yourself during the cold-weather months.

There are lots of ways to make the short winter days a little brighter. The wellness team at Pickering Village Chiropractic and Massage encourages you to make your physical and mental health a priority.

We provide our patients with more than just chiropractic and massage therapy services, but also the know-how to build better personal wellness habits so you can be at your best for work or play, every day.

To book an appointment or learn more about the chiropractic and therapeutic massage therapy services available at our clinic, call 905-427-3202.

With content from the Ontario Chiropractic Association.

Practical Daily Strategies to Avoid Back Pain

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Whether you’re a student, work in an office or run your own business from home, your daily routine can be a pain … literally. And often, it’s not the big tasks that take the biggest toll on our bodies.

We live in a world where we’re constantly in a hurry, juggling multiple tasks and carrying our belongings with us everywhere. And, believe it or not, this can have serious consequences on your back health.

In fact, back pain sends more individuals to seek medical attention than almost any other ailment, second only to the common cold.

Let’s explore some common activities that adversely affect the back health of Canadians:

Back Pain and Commuting

Just like sitting at your desk, hunching over your steering wheel can cause your muscles to tighten, curving your back. Over time this can result in long-term lower back problems. This is important for the 15.4 million Canadians who commute to keep in mind.

The solution

  • Sit at a 90-degree angle and don’t fully extend your legs.
  • Move your seat up to allow yourself to sit up straight.
  • Adjust your lumbar to fit your back, and if it’s not enough support, try rolling up a towel to help decrease stress on your lower back.

Back Pain in Your Work life

Did you know sitting puts 40 percent more pressure on your spine than standing? It’s important to remember your posture especially when you’ve had a long day at your desk.

The solution

  • Practice ‘active sitting’ with your feet flat on the floor in front of you with your back straight, your shoulders squared and chin parallel with the floor.
  • Ensure your workspace is set up to enable frequent breaks from sitting, like getting up to go to the printer and taking phone calls while standing.

Read some of our posts on how stretching can help alleviate the pain from improper desk posture.

Back Pain from Carrying Your Belongings

When you’re carrying a heavy purse or laptop bag, your shoulders become out of line. This can cause your muscles to ache and throw your spine out of line.

The solution

  • Reduce the number of items you carry with you.
  • Consider using a backpack to help distribute the weight of your load evenly across your body. This will help avoid the stress of isolated muscles overcompensating for unevenly distributed weight.

Read some of our posts on choosing the right backpack and lifting your luggage correctly.

Back Pain from Improper Lifting

Strained your back while lifting heavy boxes? You’re not alone. Lifting heavy items improperly can put undue pressure on your spine and even cause spinal disc injury.

The solution

Picture yourself doing the lift before engaging to ensure you’re keeping the object in front of you, your back is straight and you’re lifting with your knees/hips rather than your back.

Related: Five Things Your Chiropractor Wishes You’d Stop Doing

How can chiropractic and massage therapy help with your back pain?

Chiropractic treatment relieves back pain using effective clinical tools like manipulation, mobilization, soft tissue therapy, exercise, patient education and rehabilitation.

Extensively trained in spinal manipulative therapy (SMT), chiropractors are proficient in providing specialized care which has been proven effective in reducing pain, improving function, and decreasing the chances of low back pain becoming a chronic condition.

Ajax chiropractors Dr. John Noble and Dr. Mark Fera can provide education on your spine and posture and create a personalized treatment plan for your low back pain designed to ease pain and lower your risk of recurrence.

Therapeutic massage therapy is also available at our clinic by Ajax massage therapists Rolf Castanheiro and Jessica Raedisch.

Call 905-427-3202 to learn more and book an appointment.