Back Pain during Christmas & New Year Season?
Christmas can be synonymous with back pain: Christmas means extra work for your back: decorating, climbing, hanging lights, falling, cooking, shopping, even traveling can all factor into added back pain. Preventing back pain at Christmas time means not only being extra careful and using good technique when lifting and decorating, but also incorporating exercises to help prevent back pain at Christmas time. More than 5,000 people fall from Christmas and holiday decorating every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's a lot of back pain. Most men and women will suffer back pain sooner or later. As a fitness trainer, I have 13 tips for preventing back pain at Christmas time:
1. Lift with your legs, when hoisting up packages, boxes of Christmas decorations, etc.
2. When carrying boxes and packages, keep them close to your torso or side.
3. When picking up grandkids, nieces, etc., lift with your legs. Do not swing kids around.
4. When handling boxes of Christmas fare that are on the floor or low shelves, kneel or squat, rather than bend and hunch over.
5. When wrapping and unwrapping Christmas gifts, don't do it hunched over. Put the gift up on a countertop or table so that you can maintain correct posture. Better yet, work while seated.
6. Don't force a reach to decorate the Christmas tree or hang Christmas lights. Find someone taller, or use a stable stepping stool.
7. If you must use a ladder, make sure it's stable and have someone hold it at all times.
8. When carrying packages outside, first scope the path you'll be walking to make sure there's no ice or anything else you might slip on.
9. If driving for long periods, stop every hour for some stretches, walking and water.
10. If sitting for extended periods in a car, be conscious of good sitting posture; no persistent slouching or leaning.
11. If traveling by air, get up every 20 minutes and walk about.
12. Watch what you eat: Christmas time weight gain can add strain to the back and cause pain.
13. Do not skip gym workouts. Make time to take care of your body at the gym by using back exercise equipment.
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