Pulls, Sprains, and Repetitive Strains: Preventing Injuries in the Garden
Columnist Jennifer Deeks explores how repetitive gardening motions can lead to strain injuries like tendinitis, and the strategies she uses to keep gardening pain-free.
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION
Continuing on with our theme of garden safety, let me share with you how I gardened too hard and wound up at the Doctor’s office…
When we do any task that requires the same motion repeatedly, we become at risk of repetitive strain injuries, which is when the body is strained by a motion and does not have sufficient time to recover.
Pulling a weed is usually done with gripping and twisting. It doesn’t hurt to do this a few times, but if you do this thousands of times per day, the result is pain and inflammation. The same goes for things like squeezing pruning shears or holding hedge trimmers.
I used to be a gardening weekend warrior. I had a desk job during the week and then tried to cram all my gardening into big chunks of time on the weekend.
After one particularly intense pruning session, my entire forearm swelled and I could barely use my hand. If I bent my wrist, I could hear an audible squishy-grinding sound in my forearm.
Alarmed, I took myself to the Doctor and was diagnosed with tendinitis. It took several weeks of strict rest and anti-inflammatories to get that under control.
Now that I garden professionally, it is critical to my business that I don’t injure myself, so I employ a few different strategies.
Change it up
Each garden task requires a different type of motion. We can take advantage of this by moving between them to engage different parts of the body.
If you have been weeding for a while, switch to some edging, or move on to some watering. If you notice strain or fatigue in one part of your body, that’s your clue to give it a rest.
Learn to be ambidextrous
I used to be a one-handed weeder and pruned everything with my dominant hand. It’s how I ran into trouble with repeated injuries on the same side of my body.
Learning to do tasks with both hands is especially helpful because they share the load. It’s also great for your brain to make some new connections, even if it feels awkward at first.
Let your tools do the work
Sharp tools pass more easily through plants and soil than dull ones, transmitting less of the force to your body. Keeping your tools sharp is also good practice for reducing damage to plants during cutting.
In dense soils, it can sometimes be easier to use a rocking movement with a shovel or edge rather than trying to stomp your way through.
Look for ergonomic tools
Acquiring geared loppers was a game changer for me! The gearing system allows me to cleanly cut much larger limbs with much less effort.
A variety of modified tools exist with features such as longer handles for less bending, special handle shapes for improved leverage, or spring-loaded to help with grip strength.
I encourage you to skip learning about repetitive strain injury the hard way.
Some soreness following movement can be a normal part of the recovery process but experiencing pain while doing an activity is a great big red flag that you shouldn’t ignore.
Thank you to sponsors of The Owen Sound Current Writers’ Fund, who make these community contributions possible. Contributions from the community do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of The Owen Sound Current and its editor or publisher.
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