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Helpful tips to avoid injuring yourself in the garden

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Now that it’s July, you’ve probably finished most of your major gardening work for the summer, unless of course you are in the process of doing some landscaping. However, it’s always a good idea to use proper body mechanics while in the garden to avoid injury to your back or other joints.

Autumn will arrive soon enough and some of us will have more planting to do and other garden maintenance to prepare for winter so here’s some tips for you to help you avoid injuring yourself when you’re just trying to get a little gardening done.

Protect your joints

If you will be kneeling while working in the garden use knee pads, a knee cushion or a kneeler seat to protect your knee joints. Also remember to use tools with padded handles or easy spring loaded grips in order to minimize stiffness in your hands.

Take care when lifting!

We just finished mulching our garden – yes we were a little behind as usual! bags of garden mulch, soil and other garden supplies are heavy and can be difficult to carry. Use a wheelbarrow to move items from your car and place them close to the area where you will be using them. Another great idea is to open the bag, dumping the contents in the wheelbarrow or close to where you’ll be using it and then use a shovel to move small portions of the material to the garden.

Plan your tasks and conserve your energy

Just like in nursing and many other jobs it’s best to prepare everything that you’ll need before you start a task. Gather up all the gardening equiptment that you’ll need in a basket or container and carry it to the yard. This will save you trips and perhaps some time searching for tools once your already working in the garden.

I tend to bend or squat while working in the garden and I almost always end up with a sore back. Sit or kneel in one area and complete your gardening task – weeding, planting, pruning before moving to another area of the garden. This will also help conserve your energy and kneeling or using a kneeler seat will help your back too.

Moving heavy plants and other heavy objects

When it comes to landscaping your yard with new trees, shrubs or plants – perhaps large plants or ones in containers always try to move them with a wheelbarrow.

Tip the wheelbarrow forward as close to the plant as possible. Then gently rotate the pot or ball of plant onto the wheelbarrow. Slowly bring the wheelbarrow into standing position (keep your knees bend while you do this to easy your back). Carefully move the plant to it’s destination and reverse the process to get the plant off the wheelbarrow.

If you were thinking ahead and already dug a hole for the plant you might be able to move it right off the wheelbarrow and into it’s new hole!

If you have to lift a heavy item squat down, get a good grip and use your legs to lift. Don’t use your back or you’ll risk injuring your back. If there is someone else around to help you move heavy plants don’t hesitate to ask for help.

Work on one project at a time

I’m guilty of starting several projects at once and then feeling compelled to finish all of them before I stop gardening for the day. Don’t be like me – start one project at a time and finish it before moving on to another project whether it’s planting your annuals or planting seeds or seedlings or digging holes for your new roses. One job at a time.

Take a moment to decide which task needs to be given priority. Perhaps one task will take a lot longer than an other or your plants are desperately in need of care. Decide which job needs to be done first and start it. This can keep you from overdoing it and you might feel more satisfied with yourself when you complete the task rather than having several unfinished jobs on the go.

Listen to your body!

Yet another rule that I’m guilty of not following. I push myself in the garden even when I’m not feeling well or when my back is in full on spasms. I just will not go inside until I’m finished whatever I started. (I am getting a little better at listening this year as I try to plan smaller tasks).

Your body will tell you when it’s had enough. Listen to it. Muscles aching? Feeling tired? Sit back and take a break or stop your work for the day.

If you drink water while working in the garden you’ll remain well hydrated and well hydrated muscles will cramp less.

Don’t forget to stretch once you are done working in the garden. Stretching will help reduce muscle soreness and keep your more flexible. Once inside take a shower or a long soak in the bath tub to ease those muscles. Your body will thank you for it!






Gardening takes it’s toll on our skin

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Working in the garden …

Digging in the soil, planting new plants, pulling weeds, pruning and wrestling bushes into shape, and cold water dripping down your arm as you water your plants – all of these gardening related activities take their toll on our skin.

I’ve been working in the garden a little more often lately and in the evening I find that my hands just feel so dry. I also happen to wear sandals when I’m outside in the garden and I sometimes get some dirt on my feet which, even after I’ve cleaned my feet when I’m done working in the garden causes my feet to feel dry as well.

I often have scratches on my arms if I’ve been pruning my roses or if I’ve spent some time staking my roses to make them look a little nicer or to keep them from flopping onto nearby plants.

I’m sure you experience some of these issues as well.

How do you take care of your skin after a long day in the garden?

Scratches and Puncture Wounds –

Me? If I’ve been working with my roses I usually inspect my skin for thorns that are still stuck in my skin. I’ve found pieces of thorns or those tiny hair like thorny needles stuck in the tips of my fingers, under my nails and in my arms. Heck, I’ve even found thorns or thorn pieces in my legs after a really tough session with the roses. I do wear gloves while working in the garden, but some of the thorns are strong enough to penetrate the gloves.

Once I’m done getting rid of any thorns that were embedded in my skin I put some peroxide on a cotton ball and I swab my scratches and puncture wounds. Since the scratches on my skin tend to swell and get very irritated I also often put an antibiotic ointment on them. If I don’t my skin is often inflamed the next day.

I should mention that’s it’s actually important to care for wounds that you receive from your roses as there’s a fungus called Sporothrix schenckii and it’s known to be the cause of rose-pickers disease. This fungus grows on the thorns of roses and can be inoculated into the body by an innocent prick from a thorn. I looked it up on eMedicine and it’s said to not be very common in the US and I suppose it’s even less common in Canada.

Any puncture wound can become infected, whether it be from the fungus that grows on rose thorns or bacteria that’s been transmitted deep into the subcutaneous tissues of your skin. An infection might be localized where the puncture occurred or it might travel up your limb through your lymphatic system and or become systemic.

Again, these infections could be caused by any number of things. We shouldn’t be afraid to garden because we fear getting an infection, but being aware of conditions that can occur as a result of our hobby is just good sense. Take precautions. Care for any scratches or puncture wounds that you receive while working in the garden.

Tetanus

Tetanus is another type of infection that can be acquired through a puncture wound to the skin. Tetanus bacteria live in dust, soil and manure. As gardeners working in the soil we have a higher chance of becoming infected with tetanus.

Always wear gloves when working in the garden, especially when working with soil, manure or compost.

It’s also a good idea to get your booster tetanus vaccinations. It’s recommended that everyone get a tetanus booster vaccine every 10 years. However, the doctors that I work with in the emergency room have told me that I (meaning everyone who works in their garden regularly) should get a booster every five years because there’s a higher risk of getting this terrible infection which can cause lock jaw.

Skin Care

Now that you know why it’s important to try to prevent scratches and puncture wounds, and how important it is to take care of any wounds you receive in the garden on the day that they occur, lets talk about that dry skin.

This is probably the most common complaint of anyone who works outdoors whether it’s in a hobby garden or as a full time outdoor worker.

I’ve read that some people like to put a good hand cream on their skin prior to going out in the garden. This is supposed to delay drying and it also helps when cleaning your hands later as the hand cream seems to help the dirt wash off the skin easier when washing up when your finished gardening.

I’ve tried this method, and I’d do it more often if only I remember, because it does work. My hands never feel as dry after gardening if I protect them with a skin cream prior to working outdoors, and yes they do come clean so much easier.

Unfortunately, as I said, I don’t always remember to put hand cream on before I begin gardening so I do sometimes suffer from dry skin afterwords.

Skin Cream

I have two skin creams that I swear by. They are good for dry skin caused by outdoor work, and they’re good for dry chapped skin that occurs in the winter months as well.

The first skin cream is Glysomed. It’s a hand cream that contains glycerin, silicone and chamomile. The cream is made in Germany and I imagine that it’s available throughout North America and Europe although I can’t say that for a fact.

If I remember I like to use this cream before going outdoors. It’s wonderful in the winter time and I believe it also creates a nice barrier between the skin and garden dirt, and helps to make clean up after long hours in the garden a breeze.

The other skin cream that I swear by is Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula. It’s Cocoa butter enriched with Vitamin E and I find that it’s a wonderful moisturizer. It’s very soothing on dry skin.

I’m also a fan of putting cocoa butter on scars. I had part of my thyroid removed in my early 20’s (thyroid cancer) and once the wound began to heal over I applied cocoa butter to the scar daily for about six+ months. You can barely see the scar now, and in fact, by the time the scar was about 8 months old it was barely visible. Of course I also kept the scar hidden from direct sunlight for about a year too, and I’m sure that helped.

My mother had a skin cream or treatment that she swore by. Her skin would sometimes get so dry from working in the garden or due to cold dry winter air that it would crack. I can’t remember the name of the product, but it was a nipple cream for cow teats. Really. Yes it did work.

What skin care products do you like to use to sooth your garden ravaged dry skin?

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