Healthful Gardening

Gardening should be equal parts happy, health plants and happy, healthy you! The gardening season brings people out of their winter skin and for this we are grateful at Community Chiropractic and Acupuncture. Chiropractic and gardening are symbiotic: we often advise people to get moving for the sake of their health and this is exactly what gardening does. On the other side of the coin, many of the motions involved in gardening can lend strain to the body, especially the spine. 

Here are some back-saving tips to help you enjoy gardening season without ending up sore at the end of the day. 

• Warm up by stretching: Let us help you develop a 5 minute (or less) routine for the shoulders, back and hips that will keep you limber against the twisting and bending movements that are so frequent. Gardening is already a ritualistic endeavor to many; adding in stretching to the ritual will enrich the experience. 
  
• Take frequent breaks: Kneeling in one patch pf the garden for an extended period of time will allow muscles to tighten and the spine to stiffen. If you can, take a break every now and then to admire your work and hydrate, especially with the warm weather. Mixing up your tasks is a great way to keep on the move. 
• Gardening often requires heavy lifting, so be sure to lift properly. It can never be said enough: lift with the legs, not the back. 

At our office in Brooklyn, we would like to see everyone enjoy a productive, pain-free gardening season. To this end, we can identify and correct subluxation that may be contributing to pain or stress to one part of the body. If you are already suffering from injury, we can speed the healing process with healing modalities that include acupuncture and hands on treatment of the tissues and ligaments. 

Call our office in Park Slope at (718) 398-3100.

Dr. Karen Thomas, D.C.