You would think that you may not be risking injury while gardening but you may be surprised with how many injuries an individual can suffer from simply taking care of their garden. Surprisingly many painful conditions can occur from gardening such as tennis elbow, tendonitis, and spraining your wrists/back/leg.

Before you begin gardening to avoid any injuries you want to start by warming up just how you would before a workout.

1. Stretch your arms, shoulders, wrists, hands and back to avoid any strain on your joints from lifting and pulling and continue to do this during and after you have finished gardening.
2. When beginning to garden you want to remember to lift with your legs and maintain correct posture to avoid causing any stain on your legs or back when it comes to heavy items such as bags of soil.
3. If it is possible, work smarter not harder by using tools such as wheelbarrows or wagons that may help with heavy items. Remember that if it hurts or you feel uncomfortable stop what you are doing.
4. Avoid staying in the same position and repetitive motion which may cause cramping and/or stiffness, instead constantly change your position to avoid injuries and technique to avoid repetitive motions which can be harsh on your wrist or elbow. One of the easiest ways to avoid injury while gardening is knowing when to sit back and take a break from the gardening activities.
5. Allow your body to rest, refuel and not feel as tired before resuming the gardening activities.

Lastly, after a long day of gardening you want to remember to stretch one last time to relieve your body from all the work it had been putting in. This to ensure you somewhat relieve your body, arms, and back from all the work you just did and avoid injury after gardening.

At Revitamax Rehab & Wellness, we offer physiotherapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy, and more. Our team of therapists are trained to help you with your rehab needs by finding the cause of your pain, provide treatment to give you the relief, and teach you how to manage the pain using a variety of evidence based techniques. Call us at our clinic in Rexdale Etobicoke at 416 360 8326 today!