Continuing on our head-to-toe focus and how chiropractic care can help, we dig deep into another repetitive strain injury, Medial Epicondyle Tendinopathy, most commonly known as Golfer’s elbow. This is a condition that causes pain on the inside of the elbow, usually as the result of repetitive ‘overstrain’ of tendons used for moving the wrist and hand, that attach on the inside of the elbow.
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Despite its name, it does not just affect people who play golf. It also affects workers who do repeated activities with their hands, wrists or arms. It can, however, occur in any individual.
 The level of pain can vary from person to person, with some people reporting a mild niggle that comes and goes and others reporting a severe ache that can keep them awake at night.

Anyone can develop it, but it's usually seen in people age 40 to 70 years old. Golfer's elbow is thought of as an overuse injury, and is linked with activities that involve repeated gripping, lifting and twisting with the hand and wrist.
Although golfer's elbow is painful, it often goes away with rest from the activities that caused it in the first place. ​

Just as our garden and golf swing may have been neglected over the winter months, so too for many of us have our bodies! Several months of relative inactivity is not the ideal preparation for an extended weekend of gardening/golfing. Our clinic is often inundated with calls from patients who have overdone the gardening and as a consequence are suffering from back pain. 

So, to help you achieve this goal, here are 7 useful tips from the Personal Best Chiropractic Clinic to help prevent back pain when you are gardening. 

Chiropractic Gardening Tips
1)      Kneel on one leg rather than bending down repeatedly from the hips.
2)      Try and keep your back hollow when digging, with the legs well spaced apart. Use your legs rather than your back.
3)      Try and vary the tasks of the day into short bursts of different activities rather than slogging away all at one thing.
4)      When mowing lawns with a hover mower try to resist the temptation to swing the mower from side to side in an arc. Instead mow forwards and backwards as you would with a conventional cylinder mower.
5)      If you suffer from a knee problem and tend to stoop rather than kneel, then use a cushion to kneel on or gardening stool to sit on, try keeping the back as hollow as possible.
6)      Keep yourself warm and covered, i.e., keep shirts tucked in; this prevents the muscle from becoming chilled.
7)      If you ache the next day, rest, and seek the advice of your chiropractor who will advise you whether you should apply heat, or ice packs to the area, or if you require further treatment.

If any of these exercises causes pain, contact one of our team for further advice and treatment. Do not leave it to go away on its own, the earlier the treatment is carried out the better. You should exercise and keep fit so that you can enjoy your gardening and other leisure activities, rather than using your gardening as an exercise to keep fit. For more information about Chiropractic and other services available at Personal Best call 01453 873811 or visit www.personalbeststudio.co.uk​