How to Avoid Back Pain From Shoveling Snow and Raking Leaves
Photo: Filip Mroz on Unsplash
Most back pain from shoveling snow and raking leaves comes from the same three habits: reaching too far, twisting while you hold a load, and doing it all at once after months off. Fix those three and most people can finish the job without paying for it the next morning.
I'm Dr. James Cain, DC, a chiropractor at Champion Family Chiropractic on Pine Lake Road in south Lincoln. This guide is for every Lincoln household heading into leaf season and the first snow, from teens to grandparents.
Champion Family Chiropractic sells some of the products mentioned here, in our office, our online shop and our Fullscript dispensary, and we earn from those sales. I only recommend things I would suggest to my own patients and family.
Why does shoveling and raking hurt your back?
Your low back is built to bend and straighten. What wears it out is a twist with a load at the end of a long reach, repeated a few hundred times. A rake pulled across your body at arm's length is a reach plus a twist. A full shovel of wet snow tossed over your shoulder is a reach, a lift and a twist in one move.
A national study of emergency room visits found about 11,500 snow shoveling injuries and medical emergencies a year in the US, and the lower back was the most often injured part of the body, at 34 percent (Watson and colleagues, American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2011).
Timing matters too. Lincoln has had measurable snow in November in 91 of the last 129 years (Lincoln weather records, UNL), so the first shovel usually lands while the leaves are still coming down.
How do you rake leaves without hurting your back?
Rake with your legs, not by twisting your low back. Four steps:
Stand in a split stance. One foot ahead of the other, knees soft, like a short lunge.
Keep the rake close. Start each pull just in front of your front foot, not at arm's length.
Pull by shifting your weight. Rock from your front foot to your back foot as you pull, so your hips and shoulders turn together.
Switch sides every 10 pulls. Swap your front foot and your top hand so both sides share the work.
Check yourself: if your arms are straight at the start of a pull, the rake is too far out. Take a step closer.
When you bag the pile, fill each bag about two-thirds full. In Lincoln, grass and leaves have to stay separate from household trash through November 30 (10/11 NOW), so most of us are carrying paper yard waste bags to the curb. Lift each one like a shovel load (below) and hug it to your belly as you walk.
How do you shovel snow without hurting your back?
Push the snow whenever you can, and lift as little as possible. Four steps:
Push, don't lift. Use the shovel like a plow and push snow to the edge of the drive.
Scoop half a shovel. When you have to lift, take half a scoop. Wet Nebraska snow gets heavy fast.
Hinge and keep it close. Bend at your hips and knees with your chest up, slide your lower hand down the handle, and keep the load near your belly.
Walk it to the pile. Turn your feet to face where the snow is going. Never throw it over your shoulder.
Check yourself: lift a loaded shovel and hold it against your belly for a slow count of three. If you can't, the scoop is too big.
Also shovel more than once in a long snowfall, so you never move a whole storm at once, and take a standing break every 10 minutes.
A 5-minute warm-up before you head out
Before you rake or shovel:
March in place or walk the driveway for 2 minutes.
Do the broomstick test below, then 10 slow hip hinges.
Stand with your palms on your belt line in back and arch backward gently, 5 slow reps.
The broomstick test. Hold the top of a broomstick behind your neck with one hand and the bottom behind your lower back with the other, keeping it pressed against your head, upper back, and tailbone. Push your hips back into a bow. If the stick pulls away from your head or tailbone, your back is bending instead of your hips.
Kids, teens and grandparents
Kids and teens: give them a shovel or rake sized to their height and smaller loads. Pushing and raking are fine; skip heavy lifting and throwing, and stop when they're tired.
Grandparents: shoveling is hard on the heart, not just the back. In that same national study, people 55 and older were 4.25 times more likely than younger people to have heart-related symptoms while shoveling, and heart events caused every one of the 1,647 deaths in the study (Nationwide Children's Hospital summary). If you have heart disease, high blood pressure or don't usually exercise, ask your medical doctor before you shovel, push light snow only, and take neighbors up on their offers.
Photo: Nellie Adamyan on Unsplash
What helps if your back is sore afterward?
Keep moving gently, and start with simple things. For new low back pain, the American College of Physicians recommends trying non-drug care first, such as heat, massage or chiropractic adjustments, and notes that most people improve over time (Qaseem and colleagues, Annals of Internal Medicine, 2017).
Take a slow 10-minute walk that evening and the next morning.
Use a warm pack for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
Repeat the standing back bend: palms on your belt line in back, arch backward gently for 5 slow reps, a few times a day. Skip it if it sends pain down a leg.
Avoid long stretches on the couch. Get up every 30 minutes.
What I recommend
PurePath Multi Magnesium from our shop. Magnesium is one of the minerals your body uses for normal muscle and nerve function (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements). It's 10% off with code MAG10 through Saturday, October 31 (one item per order), or pick it up at the front desk on Pine Lake Road. See it in our shop.
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
When to see a chiropractor
Come in for an exam if your back isn't improving after a few days, flares every time you rake or shovel, or sends pain, tingling or numbness into your buttock or leg. You don't need a referral. I'll examine you first, and if my exam points to a medical doctor, a specialist or imaging, I'll refer you.
Call 911 right away if you have chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath, or pain spreading to your arm, jaw or back while you shovel. Go to the ER for loss of bladder or bowel control, numbness in the groin, or new weakness in a leg.
Your yard and driveway checklist
Warm up for 5 minutes first.
Rake from a split stance and switch sides every 10 pulls.
Fill leaf bags about two-thirds full.
Push snow; lift half scoops only.
Hinge, keep the load close, and walk it to the pile.
Walk and use heat if you're sore, and get checked if it lingers.
Questions people ask
Is it better to push or lift snow?
Push it whenever you can. Pushing keeps the load on the ground, so your back never holds it at the end of a reach.
Should I use a bent-handle shovel?
It can help you stand a little taller while you push, but smaller scoops and a good hinge matter more.
Why does my back hurt the day after raking, not during?
Muscles that worked hard often feel it a day or two later. A gentle walk, heat and the standing back bend usually help. Pain that grows each day or travels down a leg is worth a check.
In this series
Week 1: Neck Pain Treatment in Lincoln NE for Long Desk Days
Next week: staying strong when it's too cold to get outside, with a simple indoor routine for every age.
If your back has been grumbling since the last yard weekend, let's look before the snow flies. Call or text 402-423-4422, or book your first visit at championchirolincoln.com. Learn more about how we care for low back pain and sciatica.
Written by Dr. James Cain, DC, a chiropractor at Champion Family Chiropractic in Lincoln, Nebraska. This article is general education, not personal medical advice. Questions about your own health? Call or text us at 402-423-4422 and we'll help you figure out the next step. For a medical emergency, call 911.
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