Practical health tips for gardeners

It takes only the slightest injury to cause one to fully appreciate formerly undervalued body parts. How often have you acquired a thistle thorn in your fingertip while weeding, only to notice later how often you bump that tiny portion of your body against various objects? How often has a tiny cut on the bottom of your foot kept you hobbling around for days? Have you ever pulled a hamstring muscle and learned just how painful life is when that mass of tissue is virtually inoperable?

Sometimes bodily injuries happen from obvious causes and are minor, healing quickly. At other times, more dramatic – bizarre, even – injuries (such as, say, an explosion sensation in your right knee that occurs when you bend over to simply pick up a paper clip on the floor) can cause one to thoroughly rethink one’s exercise scheme. Painful and long-lasting injuries can easily bring on commitments to overhaul a person’s daily health regime and may include vehement vows of better health.

Fact is, if gardening is your hobby, aerobic fitness is of little matter. What matters is your ability to flex and bend, stretch and reach every which way for hours on end. Many gardening tasks require strength and stability, particularly in the knees and back. A recent bizarre and reluctant-to-heal injury caused this gardener to rethink knee health – a topic that never even registered on my somewhat out-of-calibration health radar.

It turns out those knobby little floating bones known as the patellas, or knee caps, aren’t really suited to all the bending, squatting and crawling we sometimes do in the garden. They aren’t designed to bear the weight of our body, and when we kneel or crawl, often we’re asking too much of them and placing them under a great deal of stress.

Squatting is a tempting alternative to kneeling or crawling, but it, too, can put unnecessary strain on the knees if done incorrectly or for long periods of time. When squatting, gardeners should keep their feet flat with body weight evenly distributed between feet. Squatting with heels off the ground can potentially damage ligaments in the knee.

As an alternative to squatting with both feet on the ground, it is perhaps more sensible to work with one knee on the ground and one leg bent with the foot on the ground. If working on hands and knees can’t be avoided, one should use a kneeling pad. If a kneeling pad is a bother to carry, then try using the sort of strap-on kneepads that construction contractors use.

The best long-term solution to protecting the knees from the stress and strain is to condition them with strengthening exercises and stretching, according to my doctor, who, after observing my case, most likely views gardening as high-risk as sky-diving. The muscles that protect the knees are the quadriceps (the four muscles that compose the front of the thighs) and the hamstrings (those that make up the back of the thighs). To ease strain on the knees, it’s wise to practice strengthening exercises regularly. Stretching before starting gardening activities is smart, too.

One simple exercise your doctor may recommend to strengthen your “quads” is this: stand with feet shoulder width apart and with good, upright posture. With your head upright and looking straight ahead, sink, bending the knees slightly. Then, consciously using your quadriceps and hamstrings, stand up. Repeat this 10 or 20 times, several times every day.

Another sensible exercise your doctor might recommend is a knee-warming exercise used by skiers. Stand with your feet close together and, by bending then straightening the knees, rotate both knees in a circular motion. Ten rotations clockwise and 10 counterclockwise several times every day should get those knees fit in no time!

Lower back pain is a common complaint of gardeners and may be caused by a variety of ailments, some more serious then others. To avoid causing or aggravating a back injury, it is crucial to know how to move, sit, stand and work in ways that will reduce strain on the lower back. Walking with slightly tensed abdominal muscles and with a slight arch in the lower back is supposed to strength those much-needed and easily aggravated muscles around the spine. When sitting, support your knees so they are level or higher than your hips.

Always bend from the knees, never from the waist. Consciously use arm and thigh – not back – muscles when pushing or pulling heavy objects. Avoid using jerky, twisting, or rough movements; if possible move slowly and deliberately. Select long-handled, lightweight tools when possible. They can cut down on load and resistance and tend to make work easier by extending reach and reducing body movement necessary to complete a task.

And, most importantly, whatever you do, don’t be like me! No matter how deep and wide your independent streak, when possible squelch your pride. Ask for help. Find someone to assist you with lifting, pushing or pulling in the garden.

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, 512 North Ridge Road, Montville 04941 or e-mail dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.