Gardening is a very rewarding hobby, especially once all your flowers and fruits start growing. Gardening is also labor-intensive, having you bend, kneel, and maybe stand in an awkward position to pull weeds, plants, and water.
After all your hard work you don’t want to have to deal with pain in your back, neck, and knees. You want to be able to sit back and unwind after putting in so much work. These ways will help keep you in the garden and help to further prevent injury and pain.
Read these 5 do’s for back pain relief from a physical therapist.
Raised Garden Beds
If you’re an avid gardener then you know all about the crouching, kneeling, and bending that can take a toll on your back. To help prevent this try using raised garden beds to eliminate the use of your back.
If you need more height try buying rolling planters since they are a little more elevated off of the ground. They can be raised to table height or whatever height you desire so you do not have to bend down.
You can even pull up a chair to do some planting or watering making this the easiest spine-friendly way to garden. Hanging baskets or window boxes can be used too if necessary.
Kneeling Bench
If you’re struggling with knee pain you can always have a kneeling-bench handy to use. This allows your knees to be on padding and keeps them protected. They can also double as storage so you do not have to carry as much eliminating back pain.
Extension Tools
Using shovels and rakes can oftentimes cause back pain. Using extensions and attachments can help reduce the amount of pressure put on your back and make using these tools more comfortable.
Putting another handle on a shovel for example can help increase leverage while using these tools. For watering try using a water wand to prevent the need to crouch more.
Take breaks
This tip may be simple but many people may forget to give themselves a break every now and again. Many of us lose track of time when enjoying our favorite hobbies and thus don’t notice how sore our body has gotten.
Reminding yourself to take frequent breaks can take a lot of stress off of your back and help prevent being so sore later in the day. Your body will thank you and you’ll be able to garden for longer without risking an injury.
Watch this video to learn a quick back exercise to help with lower back pain.
Proper shoes
Along with having proper shoes to keep them dry and mud-free you also need shoes that will give you good support while you work in the garden. Any sort of rubber shoe with a little grip on the bottom is a perfect show to withstand getting wet and muddy.
They can also prevent you from falling down and injuring yourself if it’s too muddy at the time.
If you’re wearing a tennis shoe or normal shoes then water can get through them to your feet and ruin the shoe. That’s why it is important for it to be rubber or plastic so water and other things such as sticks and mud can not get through your shoe.
Physical Therapy for Back Pain
Back Pain is a common treatment we treat at Preferred Physical Therapy. Many of our patients came in who have bent down or turned behind them and tweaked their backs. These people have struggled with back pain all their life and have multiple moments of pain due to their back. They may have missed out on family events or workdays due to this pain.
Nothing seems to help even painkillers and laying down. Physical therapy is a great option when experiencing back pain. Our physical therapists at Preferred Physical Therapy go over the root cause of your pain to help determine what is really going on and what needs to be treated. Once they find the root cause they recommend an action plan of how many visits you may need to start out with.
At every visit, you get one on one time with a physical therapist where they go over manipulation therapy, massaging, and stretching. You also do exercises that were given to you for your condition. If this sounds like what you’re looking for, book a discovery visit to see if we would be a good fit and can help you.
Dr, Nick’s greatest passion is seeing his patients recover from injury and return to their activities that bring them joy.
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