Have you had back pain while doing household chores?
Everyday tasks like washing dishes, doing laundry or even brushing teeth can be surprisingly annoying to many.Mainly due to back pain.
Why is that doing the chores produce back pain? Here I Am going to describe to you the mechanism as to why your back hurts after doing your laundry or simply washing dishes.
This can be explained by simplifying your back and hips as a lever system. The back is the lever, the fulcrum ( where the lever pivots )would be at at the hips or waist and the muscles at the back especially your lower back would be the motor which pivots the level over the fulcrum.
When you lean over a sink or bend over to pick up the weight of your upper body is creating a torque or moment, which your low back muscles must work against in order to prevent you from falling forward.
The torque hence would be the upper body weight multiplied by the “moment arm”. In this case, the moment arm is the perpendicular distance between the centre of gravity of your upper body and your waist/hips.
Torque = weight of your upper x moment arm
So the heavier you are or the more weight you are carrying, or further you lean forward – the more torque that your low back needs to counteract. (Source: Environmental Health and Safety Department at OSU).
On the other hand, when you are standing upright, your back (i.e the lever) is just pointed straight up. The moment arm equals zero in that position, so there is no torque. Your low back muscles are not in tension. And no pain
your low back does not handle torque very well. This is why ordinary tasks like doing your dishes, brushing your teeth, vacuuming , doing laundry, etc can cause low back pain.
Tips to avoid back pain while doing daily chores
1. Washing dishes
As mentioned before, when you bend over, the weight of your upper body generates a torque around your waist/hips. Your low back muscles tense up so that you don’t fall forward. And you end up with back pain.
To circumvent this, here r few things u can do :
1.If your kitchen has a cupboard beneath it, you can simply open the door and place one foot on the bottom of the cupboard. And then alternate feet periodically.
By putting your foot on the cabinet floor, you engage the larger hip muscles, like your glutes, to counteract that torque.
If your sink does not have a cupboard, you can use a step stool. Do not use a very high step stool , otherwise you end with a sideways bend of your spine.
2. Take a split stance, which allows the back to remain straight. It encourages the legs to bend, rather than your back. Just like your parents told you…” bend your knees, not your back.” This allows you to get your hands to the sink and take some load off your back. You can swap legs halfway through the load of dishes.
3. You can do dishes at the right height is by splaying your legs out, similar to a giraffe drinking water. By spreading out your legs, you lower your upper body and avoid bending over or at least reduce the distance you need to bend over. You will look awkward but it keeps your spine neutral and avoid back pain !
2. Vacumming/ Mopping
As with the same posture with doing dishes,vacumming/ mopping bending over can be strenuous to your back due to the back muscle resisting the torque. In addition, you get repetitive bending and straightening while doing vacuuming or using a mop.
To reduce the risk of back pain here are few tips :
1. Don’t bend forward. Stand proud
When vacuuming, staying upright is an easy way to keep a neutral spine and your low back from acting up.
2. Move with the vacuum as you do.
Don’t reach out with your arm to push the vacuum forward .Instead move with the vacuum. Our legs muscles are better equipped to doing work than your low back and arms. Let your legs do the work.
3. Keep the handle of the vacuum close to the hip.
The closer you apply a force or load to the pivot point, the less torque is applied to your low back. As was mentioned before. In the case of vacuuming/, pushing the vacuum is the force. So you want to keep the vacuum handle as close to your hip as possible.
If your mopping, one factor is to use a mop or broom with a long handle. When you are either mopping or sweeping, you want to contract your abdominals while standing straight. As you sweep, if you must twist to the side, try bending your knees with your arms and legs. As you reach for the dustpan on the floor, bend your knees as you slowly squat to the floor.
3. Lifting.
Avoid bending from the back or twisting while lifting objects. Instead, hold the object close to your body with a good base of support and your legs apart. Then, bend from the knees, lift and turn your entire body from the feet to move objects and avoid putting stress on your back. Always bend from your knees instead of your waist, with your back kept straight.
Your legs should be used for the lifting work, instead of your back. Heavy items should be held close to your body, and whenever you are holding something heavy you should avoid doing any twisting. If an object needs to be moved to the side, then your whole bod should be turned to the side. Have somebody help you any time you need to move furniture or anything heavy. So try moving heavy items by yourself.
4. Laundry
Have large and heavy bottles of detergent arranged so that they are very easy to reach. If it is necessary to reach and stretch, be sure to use both of your feet, rise up on your toes and lift your heels. Don’t overload the laundry basket so that it is too heavy to carry. When lifting the basket off of the floor, make sure to squat down and keep your abdominal muscles contract. Before standing up make sure you are holding the basket at chest level.
Avoid bending by putting your laundry basket up on a table while you are sorting and folding the clothes. Or squat instead of bending down whenever you are transferring clothes from the washing machine. To unload laundry, only do a few items at a time since wet clothes are heavy. For a front-loading model, try squatting while unloading and place the basket close to you so you minimize the amount of twisting that you have to do.
Tweaks you can make to your basic “lift with your leg and not your back” strategy include putting the laundry basket on a table or chair that is preferably the same height as the washer or dryer. This will minimize how much bending you’ll need to do to fill the basket.
5.Perform Some Gentle Stretches before and after You Do Your Spring Cleaning
Garden work and housework can be just as hard on the body as exercising is. Just like you need to stretch before and after you exercise in order to avoid injuring yourself, you should do some gentle stretch before and also after you do your housework chores. Some of the most important areas that you should stretch before you start on your spring cleaning include your legs, back, shoulders and neck.
6. Feet up and Feet forward !
While donning your socks or shoes, do not curve your back or reach to your feet by bending your back. Instead raise your foot up while keeping your back straight!
While brushing your teeth,If your bathroom sink has a cupboard beneath it, you can simply open the door and place one foot forward on the bottom of the cupboard. And then alternate feet periodically or you can use a foot stool to keep your foot on top and forward
7. Do your daily core for your chores!
What is my “core”?
The “core” is comprised of several groups of muscles including the transversus abdominus, multifidus, diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles. These muscles work together to produce maximum stability in the abdominal and lumbar (lower) back region, as well as coordinate the movement of the arms, legs, and spine.
Engaging these muscles is not something that most people do consciously, therefore it is important to learn how to effectively co-contract these muscles.
Treat your spine with respect and it will respect you back. Have a great posture and a fruitful day!! See you soon with some more spine tips in My Spine World.Remember, we got your back!