Seattle Chiropractor Discusses How to Garden Without Back Pain

Hey, it’s Dr. Zapata of Emerald City Spinal care here to share another Tip of the Week. Today, I am going to be sharing tips on how to save your back while gardening or doing yardwork. As a chiropractor in Seattle, this is the time of year where I hear from patients that they were working out in the yard when they hurt themselves. This is all too common, so with that in mind, I thought I should take some time to put this blog post together. I hope you enjoy!

It’s spring in Seattle, which is always the time of year where people are out planting flowers or starting a vegetable garden, or even just mowing their lawns and getting some weeding done. Now, if you have spent all winter in hibernation, and you have not been active, the result all this yardwork often times results in back pain in Seattle WA. So, let’s go through some tips to allow you to enjoy being out in your yard WITHOUT hurting yourself!

The first tip is to stretch and warmup before getting started with any yardwork. Spending even just a few minutes walking and doing some stretches can really save you from spending hours dealing with back pain later on. So, now I’m going to discuss two quick and easy stretches you can do before you start working out in the yard.

1. Find a step or a stoop that you can sit on. With your legs out in front of you, reach for your toes and hold this position for 20 seconds (refer to the video above for visual instructions)
2. I call this next stretch “hug a tree”, although really you are just going to hug yourself! This one is simple. Just give yourself a hug and twist your torso from side to side (again, refer to the video above this post for visual instructions)

The next tip is to lighten your load. While you may feel strong and capable when you first get out in the yard or the garden, your risk of developing back pain may increase as the day wears on and your body becomes more fatigued.

Another tip is to add cushioning. Whether that means wearing knee-pads, or using a moveable foam pad (such as the one shown in the video), this is going to help keep you comfortable when working at ground level and help keep strain off of your back.

The final tip is to create an ergonomic garden. Consider using raised beds so that you don’t have to bend or stoop as much. Also consider planting narrow rows so that you are not being as much as you would be with wider rows.

So, that wraps up another tip of the week! Now, one final note is that if you experience any sort of back pain at any time while you are gardening or doing work in your yard, be sure to stop and re-evaluate rather than pressing on and making things that much worse!

It is my hope that these tips are helpful for all of you gardeners out there! For all of us at Emerald City Spinal Care, thank and have an amazing week!

- Zapata and the Emerald City Spinal Care Team in Seattle WA