Isn't that wonderful that we can be outdoors again? Spring is here and we have, you know,
activities that we can do outdoors. The weather is becoming nice again, at least here in Canada,
and if you have a garden, it doesn't matter if it's a small or a big Garden, this is a
great activity that you can do. It's a hobby but also it's great for you to plant flowers,
vegetables and take care of your garden. So today, I'm going to give you tips on how you
can do gardening safely if you have pain, if you have chronic pain or to avoid a flare or back pain
or shoulder pain, or knee pain. I'll give you some tips for you to do gardening safely today.
All of these tips will be in the downloadable PDF that you can download from my website. Go to
www.DoctorAndreaFurlan.com/exercises and please remember this video is just for educational
purposes. I'm not here to give you medical advice. If you have any problems with your health related
to pain or your health please consult with your doctor and if there is an emergency when you are
watching this video or when you're gardening, please go to the nearest emergency department
or call an ambulance. So, before you start gardening I like to recommend you to do some
warm up to do some stretches. See the area of your body that usually hurts when you're gardening.
If it is the shoulder, try to do some shoulder stretches. If it is your knees, try to do some
stretches before you start gardening. If it is your lumbar spine try to remember tools. You know
sometimes do ‘look up’ and do some extension, back extension exercise because you will be
doing a lot of flexion of your trunk. So, do some movements that are opposite to what you are doing
while you're gardening. If you're doing a lot of movements like this you can also stretch your
arm muscles. If you have neck pain when you are gardening because you are looking down too much,
remember to do those stretches that I teach you. Stretches for the neck muscles pull you know
the trapezius a little bit to the side. Look up, look to one side and the other one. Don't forget
to do those stretches and warm up before, during, and after you do the gardening. So,
the first thing that I want you to be safe is to be sun smart. If you're going to garden in
the early hours of the day or late afternoon, you don't need to worry about the sun because
you can do this in the shade or in the sun is not so strong. But, if you're going to garden
In the heat of the day like any time between 10 a.m and 3 P.M, you will need to be sun smart. So,
I recommend putting on a sun hat and applying sunscreen at least 30 SPF would be healthy.
Apply on your face, apply on the areas exposed to the sun, especially on the back of your hands.
So, the other factor that is really important is also related to the sun is your eyes. So,
did you know that exposure to ultraviolet light to your eyes can cause cataracts? So, if you're going
to Garden during the day when there is a lot of ultraviolet light, it's really important that you
wear sunglasses that block ultraviolet light. So don't forget that. The other thing that you have
to remember is how do you carry things around. So, if you have like a lot of soil to carry around
or a lot of plants or big branches that you're cutting, it's better if you have a wheelbarrow
because then you can just push around without having to carry this weight close to your body but
if you do need to carry a weight, if you need to carry something heavy around instead of grabbing
this like bending here at your hips doing this and carrying around I recommend you to do something
different which is bending your knees, squat, bring the weight close to your body and then get
up. So by doing this, you're not putting a lot of strength in your lumbar spine causing less
back pain for you, and then you can move around and carry your weight wherever you need to go. So,
the other thing is if you need to grab something on the soil or if you want to remove weeds like
here I'm seeing a lot of weeds here. So, instead of squatting and getting them you know pulling
them, I recommend you to use some tools that have a long handle. So, if possible something
that you could remove like this so then you don't need to be squatching all the time. You could be
raking, this is like a raking, and then see if you can remove and do this so then you don't
need to be squatting all the time. Try to use any tools with long handles so you can do your
work more efficiently without having to bend and squat a lot. So I have this little toy chair that
I kept from my kids when they were little and I use it when I have to like plant flowers or
remove weeds. So, I see it here and then I can do work all around here and there with without
having to be bending my trunk or getting up and down a lot. So if you have something similar to
this maybe you can use a little chair like this. So again, if you need to garden and you need to
be going down close to the soil I have these knee pads in the knee cushion that are great because
then if you have knee pain you don't need to be kneeling on the ground you just put these knee
pads around your knees here and then they will protect your knees when you are kneeling down and
then it can help you a lot. So here, if you need to plant or remove weeds you just go down and you
kneel on your knees like this and then you'll be able to remove your weeds or plant your flower
garden. The other option is this knee cushion and I bought this at my local dollar store in
the neighborhood. This was five dollars and this was two dollars. This is a knee pad and
you can also use this just to kneel on this. It's like a small foam piece or you can cut a piece of
foam if you have at home and then you kneel down and then you'll be able to Garden here
and plant your beautiful flowers, vegetables, remove your weeds, and do everything that you
need during this gardening season. So, the other thing that is important is when you are gardening
sometimes you're distracted and you don't pay attention to what's happening to your body. So,
I like to give this tip to you which is to pace yourself. So don't try to do everything in one
day okay don't try to do the whole Garden in one whole day. Take some breaks, and pace yourself.
Maybe you can divide the tasks in multiple days and you don't need to do everything.
The spring is going to last for many months and summer is coming and you have time to do
all of these things. So pace yourself. Don't try to do everything at once and of course,
don't forget to hydrate yourself because again you'll be working outdoors, sweating, the sun will
dehydrate you. Always bring your water bottle, drink water, hydrate yourself so don't you
don't feel tired or exhausted just because you're dehydrated so make sure that you're drinking your
water. So these are the tips for today. I hope you enjoy them and enjoy the beautiful outdoors.
If you have a garden small or big take, care of your garden. Gardening is a great exercise for
the body for the mind. Enjoy the flowers. Admire what you've done. Take pictures, send me pictures
on social media, and leave a like here if you like this video here, leave some comments. I'd
love to see your garden if you tag me on social media. Thank you for watching today. Goodbye!