Family “burdens”

Family “burdens”: Change the way you lift weights!

Lower back pain , spinal disc herniation, are usual pains amongst parents. Pains that are caused by the simplest of movements: reaching down quickly to pick up a toy from the floor, or picking up our child from the floor, or even from the sofa or the rocker.

Body posture during movements such as the ones described above, reflect the condition of our waist, our back and our neck. Even if a 5kg baby is not considered heavy, a combination of the wrong posture during lifting and its repetition (six times per day), will, in the long term, put our waist, back and neck at risk.

It may seem difficult to go through the process of choosing the correct type of movement and posture every time, but the more we do it, the easier it gets.

Basic movements:

This posture offers more balance and thus more support! Stand up keeping your back straight, using your thigh muscles which are among the largest and strongest muscle in our body. When you reach down or turn, avoid stressing your back; this will usually burden the area near the spinal disc which, in turn, often creates spinal disc herniation.

Lower yourself keeping your back straight, bending the knees as necessary, and spreading your legs to the width of your shoulders. This posture offers more balance and thus more support!
Stand up keeping your back straight, using your thigh muscles which are among the largest and strongest muscle in our body.
When you reach down or turn, avoid stressing your back; this will usually burden the area near the spinal disc which, in turn, often creates spinal disc herniation.

Lifting and placing the child from/to the rocker, the floor, etc.

Carrying the child in your arms

Correct hold: Hold the child in a standing position, on the mid of your chest

Wrong hold: holding the child on your thigh (a usual position when we are doing other things at the same time), creates problems to your balance and in the long term results in backache.

Feeding

Choose a seat with good lumbar support and avoid leaning towards the child’s mouth as this will result in backache. Alternatively, use pillows or a blanket to secure the child in place.

Allowing the spine to assume a downward curve, i.e. the “hunchback position,” exerts excessive pressure to the lower back as this position relies on the support structure (joints, tendons, muscles). If the lower back is well supported and does not rock back and forth, back pains can be avoided.

10 simple rules:

Eat healthy
Maintain the right body posture
Warm up and stretch before exercise
Avoid overstuffing shoulder bags
When at the office, take frequent breaks to stand up, walk and stretch
Do not hold the telephone receiver between your ear and your shoulder
Choose to sleep on your back rather than in a prone position
Invest in a good quality desk chair, pillow and mattress
Have regular spine health checks.