Rules of spine movements #3: Household chores

LAUNDRY

If you have a top-load washing machine, don’t bend too low. To avoid bending, you can lean on the edge of the machine, keeping your body straight. If you have a front-load washing machine, bend down on one knee to load clothes or to take them out. Lean on the machine for support while getting up off your knee.

KITCHEN

To keep your back pain from getting worse while doing everyday household chores you have to plan them. Avoid the ones that could make your pain more severe. Keep items you use most often in places where you don’t need to bend down to get them. If you need to pick something up off the floor, get down on one knee, and lean on your own thigh when getting up.

If you need to get something from on a high shelf, moving one foot forward while reaching up will help take the load off your spine. Don’t lean your head back too far. Keep your neck and your low back in a straight line. Transferring your weight onto the foot that is in front of the other will help you maintain equilibrium and reduce the load on your lower back.

To unload your back while washing dishes, use similar positions: open the door of the sink and place one foot on the floor of the cabinet. This will help you keep your back straight and prevent needless bending. Try to keep the dishes close to your body. This will help you reduce load. Loading a dishwasher is like using a washing machine. Stand on one knee and load the dishes, keeping your back straight. When you get up from your knee, use additional support or lean on your own thigh.

CHILD-CARE

In addition to emotional contact, small children also need direct physical care. If you have spine or back problems you have to develop ways to make to make this activity easier, because pain can prevent you from communicating with your child. Diaper, dress or change your infant’s clothes on a high surface, like a special changing table. Never turn your back on your child when he or she is on a changing table or similar surface. Even if your infant has never rolled before, there is always a first time. Your child’s safety takes priority above everything else! When you are bending over your child’s crib, keep your back straight and bend with the help of your hip joint movements, but not with the help of your lower back.

If you need to lift your child off the floor, start by getting down on one knee. Move your child as close to yourself as you can before you lift him or her. Keep your lower back in straight all the time. If your child is big enough to stand, put him or her on their feet or place them in a sitting position and then just pick them up.

Try your best not to wrestle with a struggling toddler. If they are having a melt-down, stand by and watch to make sure they are safe. Calmly let them finish their tantrum where ever they happen to be, as long as they are safe. When they have finished thrashing, kicking or whatever else their little bodies are prone to do, approach them calmly. Don’t risk hurting your back on a struggling child. You may be embarrassed or even angry, but better that than hurt.

SHOPPING

Most supermarkets are equipped with carts and buyers have to remove items from the shelves. When you’re bending over a shopping cart, keep your spine and your lower back straight. To do this, bend one of your legs at the hip, and shift your other leg backwards. Try to avoid carts that are especially deep. Small shopping baskets that you can carry are better than a deep cart.

If an item you need is located on a low shelf you can get down on one knee, keeping your low back in a straight vertical line. While getting up from your knee, support yourself on nearby items or on your own thigh. If products you need are located on high shelves, come as close to the shelf as you can and use one hand to support yourself as you reach with the other hand. If you need to carry many items, divide them into smaller parts and carry them with both hands. Accept the help of other people as well.

While loading your purchases into your car put everything into the trunk, not into the back seat. This is because there will be no load on your spine when you remove your items from the trunk. To make things easier, keep several boxes that are easy to move in your trunk. Put your bags or items in these boxes. This will help you keep your back straight and avoid having to bend to reach a remote corner of the trunk where a stray can of peas or bottle of shampoo has rolled.

VACUUM CLEANING

While vacuuming or sweeping with a broom hold the vacuum or broom as close to yourself as you can. To turn, make the turn with your entire body to avoid twisting your lumbar spine. If it’s necessary to get down on the floor and clean under furniture, sit, bend with the help of your hip joints, and keep your lower back vertically straight.

LAWN MOWING

While cutting grass with walk-behind lawn mower, turn on your feet with your whole body. Both your shoulders and your hips must turn at the same time in the same direction. Twisting in your lower back, especially if you’re handling something heavy like a lawn mower, can dramatically intensify or cause back pain. Try to tense your abdomen slightly and raise your head up a bit. Doing these things will take the load off your spine. Mowing is hard work! Whether your lawn is the size of a postage stamp or ten acres, take frequent breaks while mowing to stretch your back and rest your joints. Every time you stop to rest, get a drink of water to make sure you stay well-hydrated.

AUTO MAINTENANCE OR REPAIR

You have to remember that BENDING WITH THE HELP OF YOUR LOW BACK IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN! If you need to work close to the ground, get down on one or both knees, moving as close as you can to what you are working on. Use one of your hands to support yourself and to reduce the load on your back. Bend forward with the help of hip joints, but NOT with the help of your lower back.

DIGGING WITH A SHOVEL

Working with a shovel or a similar tool can be tremendously straining on the lower back, even for a healthy person. That’s why, when you have back pain, you have to refuse to dig or perform any other activity which is like it. If you don’t have back pain and you’re working with a shovel, bend your knees and hip joints slightly and keep your back straight. Hold the shovel as close to your body as you can and raise a shovelful according to what your thighs can lift, not your back.

To transfer a shovelful, take a step and turn your entire body, keeping your shoulders and your hips in the same direction. Avoid turning with your feet planted because that will twist your back. You have to remember that the closer the shovelful is to your body, the less your back is overloaded.

Read about the rules of weight lifting Here.