Why I Have Back Pain during Housework and What I Should Do to Avoid It?

After reading this article, you will realize that doing housework isn’t always easy on your body, and especially on your back. This article will introduce you to what triggering your back pain during housework and provide some modifications to the way that you clean your home to reduce and relieve your back pain.

Most people do not have the luxury of a housekeeper to do their cleaning for them and living in an unclean environment can become depressing. This is an unavoidable part of life for most adults and needs to be done. Doing housework isn’t always easy on your body, and many people who vacuum, mop, do dishes and do their laundry often find that they end up with back pain when they are all done. A persistent back problem can make keeping your home clean a challenge. If you already suffer from recurrent or chronic back pain, related to an injury or degenerative spinal condition, you probably know that some chores can be more than just time-consuming; they’re downright hard on your back! When even the slightest movement can cause pain, it is all too easy to avoid it altogether.

Your pain is likely the result of muscle imbalances that developed over time. While it may seem like your pain occurred overnight, it’s more likely that poor posture, repetitive motions, and chronic straining, including performing some of the household chores mentioned above incorrectly, along with sitting for long hours in front of a computer or in the car, have taken a toll on your body, leading to imbalances in various muscle groups. Your body is then forced to work each day with this dysfunction and eventually, this creates a condition, like a herniated disc for example, which causes pain. On the other hand, vacuuming, mopping, or sweeping is actually a good workout while undertaking such tasks.

Housekeeping-related back troubles usually come about because we don’t take the small amount of time necessary for thinking about how we do the move. That has to change if you are going to protect your back from injury, pain, or re-injury. What you also need to do is figure out how to get the task done without triggering your back pain. When you think about it, most of the ergonomic tips for housekeeping tasks revolve around the same ideas: Keep your spine neutral, avoid twisting where ever possible, find and develop core support and don’t overdo it. To that end, let's talk about common household tasks and understand how to perform them in a way that your back will like.

Prevention Tips:

Know Your Limits and Plan Out Routine Activities: Make a schedule that includes all of the tasks that you need to complete and add in breaks on a regular basis as well. It will make you feel relaxed psychologically as well as help to reduce tension in your muscles and joints. A very important aspect of avoiding getting injured is knowing what your limits are. If you start feeling fatigued and exhausted, then that is a sign that you need to stop physically working.

Before and After You Clean, Perform Some Gentle Stretches: Yard work and housework can be just as hard on the body as exercising is. Just like you need to stretch before and after you exercise in order to avoid injuring yourself, you should do some gentle stretches before and also after you do your housework chores. Some of the most important areas that you should stretch before you start on your spring cleaning include your legs, back, shoulders, and neck. 

Apply Some Heat: Many people find that their backache can be relieved by simply applying some heat to the area where they are feeling the pain. Purchase a reusable heating pad that you can quickly warm up in your microwave and then lie down with it for a few minutes to get some relief after you do your chores. 

In summary, by making some modifications to the way that you clean your home, and by taking a few simple steps to relieve your backache, you can prevent pain or at least reduce it with ease. I hope that after listening to this podcast, you will remember to be aware of your spine position while performing all housework. Set to yourself reminders for good posture and techniques and for taking some breaks. This is OK not to finish everything in one shot and to seek help if needed. Use lumbar support and heat to ease the pain after cleaning. Whatever you do, please be aware of your limitation and listen to your body.

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