I actually enjoy hoovering. I take great satisfaction in seeing the cylinder fill up. For most though hoovering is somewhat of a chore or at worst a good way to hurt yourself. As Chiropractor in Grimsby one of the common causes of low back pain is hoovering. Hoovering isn’t one of the things most people think of when they think of low back pain.

The danger in hoovering comes from how much we get into the task. Freddy gives a good example of how not to do it. The tendency is to lean forward and back from our lower back.  My Dyson weighs about 19lbs, I truly love the machine, you could almost suck the moon from the sky with it, but as you accelerate it forward and back it gains some momentum – depending on how vigorously you get into your hoovering it can require up to 60lbs of stopping power. Considering it may take about 60 forward and back motions to clean an entire room, running into the hundreds to clean an entire house – it then becomes easier to understand why some people end up with low back pain.

Every time I vacuum, mop, or rake the leaves, I get lower back pain. This makes my days challenging. I try to take my time and allow for rest breaks but it still hurts. So now I dread doing it. But, it has to get done and no one else will do it.

Many people experience low back pain while hoovering, mopping, raking up leaves or shovelling snow. As they’re reaching with their arm, they’re also bending at the waist. They do this over and over again, straining the muscles of the back. Meanwhile, they turn to the side with their feet planted, rotating the trunk of their body.
The fix to this problem is to keep your hips and shoulders moving in the direction of the work, instead of twisting your back. It’s also important to avoid bending over, so we recommend stepping forward with one foot and bending slightly at the knee, allowing the upper body to stay upright in a partial lunge.

You may be so busy checking chores off your mental “to do” list that you forget about the right way to move your body. I would suggest using pain as a reminder to pause and say, ‘Can I reposition myself?’”

Changing the way you do your chores can help prevent — and also alleviate — acute low back pain. But symptoms that drag on for more than a day could be a warning sign that deeper problems exist. If your concerned that contact Chiropractic First on 01472 488082, we will be only to happy to help.