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GARDEN WITH CARE! Summer is prime-time for gardening, with flowers blossoming and theweather making outside activities more enjoyable than ever. Gardening is a great way to get outside and take advantage of the fresh air, but it can also put a strain on your upper extremities. It is important to keep your hands, wrists, elbows, and shoulders safe while you garden, so you can continue to keep doing the activities you love while you can! Ergonomic gardening tools can be found online, and many can also be found at your local gardening supply stores. By using specially designed tools, you can avoid pain and greatly decrease your risk of injury while working on your garden. Which ergonomic gardening tools should I consider? There are a variety of ergonomic tools that can help protect you from sustaining an injurywhile tending to your plants, flowers, and shrubbery. Some of the most beneficial ones include: • Ergonomic digging tools. Digging can cause abnormal bending, twisting, and stretching of yourwrists that could result in pain or injury. By using a curved-handle tool (such as a shovel, scooper, or cultivator) for digging purposes, you can avoid straining yourwrists while scooping out soil or planting flowers. • Ergonomic pruning tools. Pruning can strain your arms and shoulders, due to the pressure and angle of the task. Ergonomic pruning tools
TRIM YOUR PAINS AWAY WITH ERGONOMIC GARDENING TOOLS can increase leverage and make cutting in general significantly easier. Companies such as Fiskars use patented PowerGear mechanisms to ease the strain of cutting and increase consumer usability. Because of this, they are also recognized by the “Arthritis Foundation’s Ease of Use Commendation.” • Ergonomicwatering tools. Pulling awatering hose through the garden and coiling it back up afterward can cause aches and pains in the arms and hands, especially if someone is suffering from arthritis in their upper extremities. Ergonomic watering tools include lightweight garden hoses, soakers, and drip hoses, that can be easily snaked throughout the garden, thus easing strain on the arms. Hose chests with automatic rewinding features can also be purchased in order to avoid manual coiling with achy or stiff hands. • Ergonomic container gardening. Reaching, bending, and stretching down to tend to your garden can result in pain from hunched and overworked muscles. Container gardening, such as raised garden beds and trellises, can help fix this. With container gardening, the garden is brought to you, eliminating the need to reach down to work on it. This can greatly eliminate pain in the shoulders and arms, as the muscles will be much less stressed with raised containers.
Call 516.333.1481 (Long Island) or 212.472.1000 (Manhattan) to to schedule your appointment today!
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