Shoveling Snow and Low Back Injury

Shoveling snow is one of the easiest ways to injure your lower back.  The biomechanics involved in bending over to scoop the snow, lifting and twisting and finally dropping the snow out of the drive way or sidewalk put the spinal muscles at risk for a sprain/strain injury.  The main reason for this is that the lower back is not made for heavy lifting combined with a twisting motion.  The twisting motion associated with shoveling puts a significant strain on the lower back muscles and the discs between the vertebrae.  With a heavy enough load at the end of the shovel the twisting motion produces a shearing effect on the discs and an overload of the spinal muscles which causes the injury.  Whenever you shovel snow, or any other heavy substance like sand or gravel, make sure to only lift small amounts of snow at a time.  Sure, it will take longer but you will significantly reduce your chance of injury.  Taking your time to lift the proper amount and fully turning to drop the snow rather than twisting and flinging will help keep you low back is good shape all winter!