How gardening can be hazardous to your health
How surprised would you be if I told you that gardening is one of the top 5 reasons for spine related injuries? Car accidents, travel, picking up kids, and household chores make up the other four. In So-Cal, gardening takes place all year long. While the rest of the country is in the middle of winter, we are watering our lawns and getting our gardening gloves out on the weekends to fix up our landscape. I personally find gardening to be relaxing like many others do, yet we often see so many spine related sprains and strains from such a “relaxing” past-time.
In Southern California, gardening takes place all year. While the rest of the country is in the middle of winter, we So-Cal residents are still watering our lawns and getting our gardening gloves out on the weekends to fix up our landscape. For many people, gardening is a relaxing activity...until it becomes a major source of injury and disability. Let me tell you why.
Too much too quickly
Here’s a scenario. You don’t garden for weeks, maybe a few months. But one weekend morning you plan on getting it ALL done. So out comes the gloves, the hat, and the old pair of jeans, and you’re off to the yard. You lose track of time and realized you worked past lunch. You keep going because you’ll rest when you’re done. After 3-4 hours of kneeling and bending at the waist, exposure to sunlight, and lifting from the ground level at least a few dozen times to carry pottery or soil, you realize it was more work than you expected. It didn’t really feel like work. It was in fact enjoyable, and despite the fatigue and body ache, you tell yourself it was worth it. The garden looks great and you are proud of a hard day’s work! Except the next day you can’t move your body! Sound familiar? It is to me!
Everything is amplified with time and repetition
Gardening is like any sport. It requires specific movement patterns, namely from the kneeling or ground position. Lifting, pulling and digging even against light resistance adds up to hundreds of repetitions over time, requiring energy expenditure and stamina. Continuous exposure to the sun is also exhausting and depletes your body’s electrolytes through perspiration and constant body tension, creating an ideal environment for tired muscles and tendons to strain.
Mechanical disadvantage
Gym lifting is idealized. Weights are compact, footwear and surfaces are clean and unobstructed, and motion predictable. You take a weight off a rack, lift it a bunch of times, then put it back, you take a break, go to the next station for a different muscle group, and finally you are done in less than an hour. Not so in gardening!
You kneel and work for long periods, immediately get up to lift something heavy and bulky, you avoid tripping over your tools and terrain, then you repeat for a few more hours. You are likely dehydrated and fatigued, exposed, and hunched forward for long periods of time. It’s the perfect storm for injury regardless of age and fitness level.
Prepare yourself
Because of the subtle but demanding nature of working outdoors, prepare yourself before you prepare your garden with the following:
Stretch out before, during and after. Have a routine to stretch your buttock muscles, hamstrings and calves. Don’t forget to stretch your spinal muscles. Don’t bounce! Instead, continue to take deep breaths as you hold your stretch position.
Hydrate the night before. Also take water breaks every 30-45 minutes. You can add a pinch of Himalayan salt to every 1 Liter of water to make an electrolyte solution that is highly effective.
Take breaks. Try to spend a few minutes every hour to hydrate, get a snack, and stretch out again. Your body needs to decompress frequently in order to avoid an injury.
Have the right tools. Why use a small spade when you can use a shovel, or hand carry pottery when you can use a wagon. Use pads when kneeling, and a stool for long periods of ground work.
Protect your skin. Covering up with long sleeves and pants reduces skin irritation but also slows down the direct effect of sun exposure.
Finally, don’t spend too much time with both knees on the ground! If you have to get low, try to kneel with only one knee and one foot on the ground. Switch frequently. Doing so will reduce strains to the lower back and prevent overuse of smaller back muscles.
Gardening is demanding work and requires body preparation before, during and after the task. Spending time in the garden once it is done...that’s relaxing! Take good care of yourself as you care for your garden, and hopefully you can enjoy both for many years to come!
Dr. Adrian Pujayana has been providing drug-free solutions for health and wellness to adults,
athletes, and youth since 2000 through his private practice at Family Chiropractic Center of South Pasadena, a place for strength training and nutrition based health care. For comments or questions, email him at southpaschiro@gmail.com
