Cardiff Chiropractor’s Tips for a Pain-Free Christmas
While not everyone will celebrate Christmas, we all want to spend the holiday season without back pain, so here are some simple recommendations from us at Proactive for ways to look after yourself this festive season.
We’ve all heard stories of the family member who fell off their ladder hanging Christmas lights at the start of the month to get everyone feeling in the festive mood. If this is your job this Christmas, make sure to perform any tasks using a safe and secure ladder, with someone by your side to support you throughout the whole process.
Speaking of festive decorating, getting the decorations out of the loft or putting lights around the tree shouldn’t be causing you pain. Make sure to perform any heavy lifting and bending movements similarly to a squat or deadlift movement, lift with the legs and then load the lower back to a comfortable level, using your upper body to balance what you are lifting. Avoid any jerking or quick rotational movements, as this an aggravate the tissues and joints if they aren’t conditioned to the movement.
To all the chefs in the family, this next tip is for you. The number of hours you spend each Christmas in the kitchen cooking and preparing the best Christmas meal for everyone can’t be understated, but whilst you’re trying to make the best food for everyone, we need to make sure you are looking after yourself. Make sure that any food preparation is performed at a comfortable and suitable hight – don’t be stooped over a low table with your neck bent down for hours, adjust the heights of your workspace so it works best for you. Bending down to reach the oven shouldn’t only be done with your back, make sure to use your legs as well – going down onto one knee slowly and controlled every so often will pay off in the long run. When it comes to whisking and stirring, try and use both arms to avoid tenderness around the elbow too, you’ll be surprised how sore it can get after just 10 minutes of stirring.
Despite all the efforts you may take to avoid back pain this Christmas, it can’t always be avoided, no matter how hard we try. Our key recommendations for this however include:
Changing positions and having breaks – We do all love having Christmas movie marathons as well as lounging in bed for all hours of the morning, after all, it’s Christmas. However, staying in the same positions for long periods of time on multiple days, both whilst at work outside of the holiday season and during our time off has been shown to cause tight and achy joints throughout the body. Try and take some small breaks to keep your body moving when you can.
Ice – make sure to ice the area following an injury, this will help reduce the swelling and inflammation as well as act as a mild pain reliever. Make sure to do this with a proper ice pack (not the frozen Brussel sprouts) that is covered to avoid ice burn, and hold it on the affected area for around 10-15mins max. This can be repeated 2-3x following a 10minute break in-between.
Movement – Feeling full of Christmas food and warm & toasty is one of the best feelings during the Christmas period, especially when it’s cold during the winter months. Movement and exercise will always be beneficial, especially to any areas that are feeling quite painful and sore/ tight. Between 30-45mins per day of vigorous activity is recommended for adults so try and incorporate walks with family members or with friends into your plans this Christmas.
If you find any injuries that you sustain aren’t going away after trying these different tips during the Christmas period, help is always at hand. Feel free to contact us to see if we can help you get back on top of your symptoms following the Christmas break so that you can start the new year ready to tackle whatever 2025 has to offer.
All of us from Proactive Chiropractic in Cardiff wish you all a wonderful Christmas season filled with the best memories and joy and look forward to keeping you as happy and healthy as possible. Merry Christmas!
Written by Daniel De Rooij