Absolute Health Chiropractic

Shovel smarter!

This week our number one complaint was lower back or shoulder pain after shoveling snow. Here are our top recommendations to prevent injury.

1) Bend with your knees, not at the waist. This helps prevent straining your lower back musculature.

2) Shovel in shifts. Although it can feel productive to remove all the snow in one session, shoveling in shifts can help your body rest after performing a new form of exercise. You will be less sore, and thus more productive later.

3) ICE preventatively after for 20 minutes. This will help keep the inflammation down and prevent pain.

4) Perform a few gentle low back or upper body stretches. Although shoveling may not feel like exercise to all, the functional movements aren't actions we are performing regularly. This means we should treat shoveling like a new exercise routine and stretch after!

We hope everyone stays safe and warm!