Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/ask-dr.-sue-oh-those-aching-backs/5010826/
Child care is rough on caregivers' backs. When you care for young children, you must lift, squat at child level, and use child-sized furniture some of the time. Once you injure your back, these activities slow down healing and increase the risk of injuring yourself again. Back injuries are a common cause of workmen's compensation claims. By concentrating on posture, using good body mechanics when doing potentially injurious activities, keeping fit, and wearing back supports for particularly stressful work, child care staff can save their backs.All child care staff need to practice good back care.
Look at yourself in the mirror. How do you stand? Is your belly out, your head forward? How do you sit? Do you slouch so your shoulders hang out over your lap? These are common postures people assume. When your head, neck, and back bones are not lined up over your pelvis, you put strain on your back.
Check yourself by standing against a wall. Push your head, shoulders, pelvis, and heels against the wall. Now walk away from the wall holding that position. If you do this exercise correctly, you line up your bones the ...