Keep your low back Thankful this Thanksgiving!

Many people don’t think of typical Thanksgiving activities being hard on the low back. Take it from us, people report having low back pain flare with the simplest activities. Like Dr. Dan always says: “it’s the turning in the shower to pick up the shampoo injury area.”

When cooking or doing dishes, make sure that you use your legs to your advantage. If you have ever had pain or tightness after standing bent at the waist working at a kitchen counter doing dishes, you know how unpleasant that can be. Spreading your feet wider apart brings your stance lower. When combined with bending the knees slightly, this can bring the counter or sink to the proper height for you. This will take much strain off of the low back as you are able to keep it neutral and not add the weight of the upper body to create further flexion pressure.

When working with the oven, try to squat instead of bending to look inside. When lifting things in or out of the oven, follow proper lifting technique, keeping the weight close to your body for as long as possible. This will help ensure you do not injure your low back in the process.