AN A-Z OF LUMBAR OR PAIN AND LEG PAIN: CAUSES OF BACK PROBLEMS
Gardening and sport are the most common reasons for my Monday morning phone calls. Doing a little gardening regularly will keep you fit. Beware of trying to do too much at one time, such as bending over and digging, when you are not in training for it. Good athletes must train long and hard.
The lifting of heavy garden pots or a television set from room to room causes injuries that chiropractors and osteopaths see all the time. Christmas parties cause many of this type of injury.
Great loads of food are brought in from the shops and the car. A crate of champagne or a dozen frozen turkeys – it matters not how exotic the load – bad posture when lifting gets you in the end! Who am I to complain? It’s all work for us, but the pain is something we would like you to avoid.
The problem is brought on by rotating the spine as you lift something, such as the baby from its cot, or moving the groceries out of the car, carrying a typewriter at the office, moving rocks in the garden or mother sitting baby on her hip. All are classic injuries which involve bending down and lifting, while twisting to the left or right in the bent position.
Most people just bend down and lift straight up with their arms. This thoughtless movement strains the lower back and vertebral muscles and
overstretches the ligaments of the lumbar joints. Often the pelvic joints are stressed too.
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