There aren’t many things that have our feelings as divided of as those of snowfall.  Some people look forward to the scenery that it brings.  Others dread the scooping, walking and driving conditions that it puts us in.  Whether you love it or hate it, it comes every year.  You have to deal with it.

Unfortunately with snowfall, we are exposed to more opportunities to injure ourselves.  The nasty combination of elements makes it hard to avoid accidents.  There seem to be three major accidents that happen when the snow flies.  Shoveling accidents, car accidents and slips/falls.  All three can have devastating effects, but there are also some ways that they can be avoided.

Shoveling accidents are commonly seen in chiropractic offices, as well as emergency rooms.   Whether it is a strained muscle or something as major as a heart attack, these injuries often change the way you go about things the next time.  Luckily, these are some of the injuries that are easiest to avoid using nothing more than common sense.

If you decide that you are going to shovel, first ask yourself if you are really healthy enough to do so.  I know that a lot of us would like to lie to ourselves and say that we are, no matter our condition, but this is an important question.  Is it really something worth getting injured, or even dying, for?

If you determine that you are in good enough physical shape to do the shoveling, make sure you warm up before you go out there.  I am not talking about throwing an extra layer of clothes on.  Make sure you do something that gets your core body temperature up before you lift that first pile of snow.  This will help you prevent any of those nasty muscle strains that affect many of us every year.

Make sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew, while shoveling.  Wet snow (usually the snow that falls at higher temperatures) is going to be heavier than the drier snows (usually the snow that falls when it is really cold out).  You can test this out by making a snow ball.  If it holds together really easily, it is likely a wetter snow.  Under these conditions you should decrease the amount of snow that you put onto each shovel load.  By keeping the weight of the snow you’re scooping down, you again decrease the risk of a muscle, or worse disc, related injury. 

Another common shoveling problem is twisting to thrown the snow .  This is a bad idea.  It puts a torsional strain on the back, and can lead to more severe injuries (disc prolapse).  Keeping your body facing straight ahead and pushing the snow in that direction is a much safer way of removing it.  It may not be as quick, but it can help you avoid some major injuries.

Car accidents are a little harder to avoid.  The sad fact is that no matter how careful you are, you never know who is driving next to you, and what is going to happen to them.  The snow/ice always manage to magnify the mistakes that people make as well.  Just like with shoveling, chiropractic and emergency room visits increase when people start driving in these conditions.

The best way to avoid these injuries is to stay off of the roads.  If you don’t have to be out, stay inside.  If you do go out, make sure your car is in the proper condition to be on the roads in severe conditions.  Do you have the right type of tires?  Are they properly inflated for the conditions?  Are your breaks working?  Are your lights working?

Obviously if you are going to be driving in these conditions, you better know what you are doing.  Remember that stopping is going to take longer distances.  Putting your car in neutral and pumping, rather than slamming, on your brakes are two things that may help you stop in shorter distances.  Keeping your speed down is another key factor in this, which many people get constant reminders of from their passengers.

 You won’t be able to accelerate as fast, so you are going to need bigger gaps before pulling into traffic.  And one that we don’t always keep in mind (that I actually saw a few times this past weekend) is making sure that we are going to be able to see.  You may have to get out to your car earlier to get it warm enough that the windows won’t fog over.  And you will need to clear the snow off of every part of your car, so it doesn’t blow onto the windows, blocking your view.

Falls are also difficult to avoid when you are put into the conditions that go with snow.  Not only is snow itself slippery, but when compacted, or thawed and refrozen, if forms an ice that seems to be twice as slick as other types.  Of course tail bones take some nasty shots when you do fall, but two areas that people don’t always think about are the rotator cuff and the wrists.  There are a lot of injuries to these areas when people try to catch themselves when they fall.  Although it is hard to let yourself fall harder, sometimes that is the better option.  Unfortunately gauging how you should fall is next to impossible.

Avoiding falls is tough to do.  Obviously it is hard to stay in the house all winter, so you should just take a few precautions when you do decide to go out.  Make sure that you wear the appropriate type of shoes.  Any type of hard, flat sole makes walking on ice a difficult task.  It took me a couple of falls before I figured out that I should go back to tennis shoes or alter how I walk.  Obviously the pliable rubber, is going to increase your surface area and make falls less likely.

If you can work with the area, make sure you chop the ice off of the cement or give it a heavy coating of salt.  You may have to revisit this technique every day or two to make sure that no new snow/ice runoff has refrozen on these surfaces.

These techniques are nothing ground-breaking, but they are all tried and true ways to avoid having to seek out your chiropractor or visit the emergency room.  I would love to see you all, and I hope that you will call me if you need anything, but I would rather see you on better terms.  Allow common sense to carry you through the winter safely.

 

If you have questions, or would like to discuss this further, please contact me at:

Jeffrey L. Cumro, Doctor of Chiropractic, Certified Personal Trainer
Better Life Chiropractic and Wellness, LLC
          Better Care > Better Health > Better Life
10700 Sapp Bros Dr
Omaha, NE, 68138
402-210-1472
BetterLifeNE@gmail.com
www.BetterLifeNE.com