“If you cannot lift the load off another’s back, do not walk away. Try to lighten it.” – Frank Tyger
Most people lift incorrectly because it is easier to complete a task when you do it quickly. The problem is you increase the likeliness of causing an injury to your lower back. Every time you bend forward at the waist, your back becomes a fulcrum. This simple motion puts all of the pressure of lifting on the spinal discs, the supporting musculature, tendons and ligaments. The most common area for our discs to bulge is in the waist area, known as the L4/L5 and L5/S1 level, because of this maneuver.
Businesses that rely on workers, who lift boxes and then twist to put them in trucks at a high rate of speed, are the cause of Worker’s Compensation Claims for low back pain. Even picking up your grandchild or grabbing a couple of bags of groceries can set you up for pain later.
Essentially what happens is you are loading or compressing the spinal discs. Then by twisting, you are screwing down the disc and applying shearing forces, which over time will cause a disc problem. Remember the disc is like a jelly donut. So when you place your hand on top and then twist your hand and push down, it’s messy isn’t it? Repeating movements like this will cause micro traumas to the spinal discs. This is the person who has a backache that comes and goes but lasts increasingly longer. In time, they may reach to pick up a pencil and their back will “go out.”
Many work environments encourage or require the use of back belts for their employees to help protect them and prevent work injuries from occurring.
Unfortunately there is little proof that these belts actually provide any benefits. Even as a reminder to the person they should not be lifting heavy things or that it would help support them if they did make a bad move, were all theories shot down for using belts. It may be better to invest a company’s money in a good chiropractic physician to teach ergonomic classes and have demonstrations of better body mechanics and posture.
A great idea for all of us is to loosen up first. Do a few minutes of stretching to warm the muscles up before you try to stack 200 boxes. That means you need to show up a little before your shift starts. It’s like warming up your car before you drive it. If you drive just 15 minutes to work, your back can have fluids build up in the tissue and make you susceptible to injury if you just hop out and start to bend and lift. Doing a few gentle flexion or extension exercises, walking a bit and doing other types of stretches, may help to remove some of the fluid, making it safer for you to lift again.
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