Watching Palermo Physio and Wellness Centre and the Palermo Professional Centre building at the corner of Old Bronte and Dundas road come together, I can’t help but watch things through the lens of a Physiotherapist. As I’m sure Brittney the Chiropodist at our location around the border of Oakville, Burlington and Milton, also can’t help but watch people’s gait.

As the washer/drier gets stacked, treatment tables get moved, trees get planted and trucks get unloaded I marvel at what our bodies are capable of but also how mindful we should be. Our backs are made to move and bend, but when lifting it’s important to make sure that our “core” from our ribs to our pelvis stays a stacked cylinder. It’s easy when we have big tasks such as gardening, moving, cleaning and even work related activities to overdo it or get sloppy. Here are some tips for proper lifting techniques to help ensure low back health:

1. Maintain a general level of health a fitness and a base level of conditioning. If we haven’t performed load bearing or lifting activity in months and then ask our body to do it over and over or in one heavy load we risk low back pain / injury. Physio can help set you up with a strengthening program suited to you.
2. The more the merrier! Ask for help. Don’t be a hero- I was so lucky to have my father-in-law Ray and the building manager Rod help hoist the drier up onto the washer.
3. Maintenance. Keep your back muscles and joints healthy through stretching, strengthening and soft tissue work. Massage Therapy can assist with this. Massage can help with such things as sports related recovery, tight muscles, general strains and sprains.
4. Form. We want to make sure we’re as close to the object as possible, that we test the load so there are no surprises. That we keep our spine / core/ cylinder stacked. That we lift by pushing ourselves toward the ceiling as one unit. That we recognize if we cannot do those things while by ourselves we should ask for help (see #2) and if we are surprised we have challenges we should analyze our conditioning (see #1).

If you experience back pain Physiotherapy and Massage Therapy can help. We offer Massage Therapy, hands-on Physiotherapy and Chiropody to the Oakville, Burlington and Milton areas. Please call (905) 582-9700 to book an appointment or visit www.palermophysio.ca.