Don’t let Fall clean up get the best of you

The change from summer to fall brings a host of wonderful opportunities and crisp weather activities. Back to school, fall sports, cider, and doughnuts….However, the changing season also brings a list of seasonal chores we’re all accustomed to. Prepping your yard and home for winter can be a tall order, and injuries related to these tasks are common. The good news is that most of these injuries are easily preventable.

Shoulders, forearms, necks, and backs can take a beating from the repeated movements involved in raking, leaf blowing, trimming, weeding, and eventually, shoveling snow. With a few simple tips and tricks, you can make your to-do list less harmful to your body. 

You’ve heard it before, but the most important tip is avoiding bending over from your back and lifting with your back. Always aim to keep your back straight and the load close to your body, and lift by using your legs. When raking, avoid reaching out further by bending at your waist. Instead, only reach the rake as far as your arms can easily reach and then tighten your core muscles to protect your spine while you pull the rake back. 

In addition to our standard advice on protecting your back, here are some additional tips that will help make your chores easier:

• Sharpen all tools ahead of time to make trimming and cutting more manageable for your hands and arms. Smooth cuts are also easier for the plants to heal.
• If bagging leaves, rake into rows instead of piles. This makes bagging manageable sections much quicker.
• For those that take their leaves to the street, rake onto a tarp to make moving the pile more efficient.
• Bungee or tie large ornamental grasses before cutting to make both clean-up and cutting smoother.
• Carry a five-gallon bucket with you as you weed and trim. The weight will be minimal, and getting the mess into a bag without repeated bending and squatting will save your back.
• Remember to stretch your spine from time to time. Avoid staying in the same position for more than 20-30 minutes.
• Using a leaf blower to clean out gutters is much faster and will ease the fatigue in your shoulders and back compared to making repeated trips up and down a ladder. (Be sure to use a safety harness while on the roof!)
• Consider mulching the leaves instead of raking, it’s good for the lawn and garden beds.
• If you live in an area that requires snow shoveling, make sure to warm up and stretch before you engage in vigorous activity in the cold.

Planning in advance to break the fall chores into smaller amounts spread out over a few weeks can also ease the wear and tear on your body. Resist the urge to get it all done in one weekend to avoid an injury that could linger for weeks afterward. Better yet, recruit family or friends to help with the tasks. As the saying goes “Many hands make light work”!

If you do sustain an injury or end up with pain and soreness that persists for a week or more after your clean-up, Physical Therapy can help. Oftentimes, the sooner you seek help, the faster your pain will go away. Not only can physical therapy help your pain, but your PT will also show you ways to avoid the pain next time your to-do list comes around. Schedule your free assessment today!