Imagine it’s a beautiful Saturday morning and you’re outside in the garden. You reach down to move a pot with some flowers in it, and pop! You can’t stand up, you feel stuck and there’s a sharp pain all the way down your back.

Or imagine you’re in the garage looking for a pair of pliers. You see them on a shelf to your right and reach up and over to get them. Just as you’re about to grab the pliers, ahh! The pain leaves you immobilized. You’re not sure how to move and get back outside.

These are two situations that happen way too often and can mostly be easily avoided. While injuries do happen, I want to give you a few tips to help you avoid what you can.

When we are doing everyday movements and are not focusing on our body mechanics we can injure ourselves. These movements can dissipate within the day or can leave us on the couch for the week. Being aware of how we are moving is super important. Below are a few situations to be aware of in the upcoming weeks.

• When reaching for a dish on the top shelf in the kitchen, don’t go on your tippy-toes. This can cause stress to your shoulders and cause injury or force you to lose your balance. Instead of reaching as high as you can, try using a step stool.
• Avoid twisting and reaching at the same time. Our backs are very sensitive and we should always try to point our hips and bodies to match where we are reaching. This can come in handy with all the leaves that are falling and will be falling from the trees. This is a great opportunity to use good body mechanics and avoid the unintentional twisting, turning and reaching.
• As mentioned in the beginning paragraph, bending down or reaching can create a lot of injuries. First, face the object you are trying to pick up. While keeping your feet apart, bend at your knees and hips, and go into a squat position. Slowly lift by straightening your hips, not your back and keep the object close to your body.

If you have one takeaway from this article, it is to watch yourself with activities of daily living. No matter how simple you think the movement is, be aware of how your back, hips and knees are moving so that you are able to stay injury-free longer!

Until next time,

Keep living your best life,

Kait