Moving homes is an emotionally and mentally exhausting process. However, many of us forget to factor in the third aspect of exhaustion: physical! Moving takes a lot out of you. Carrying valuables and furniture up and down stairs, packing and unpacking boxes, and cleaning everything before and afterwards can all leave you with scrapes, sore muscles, and bruises in places that you can’t even remember being hit.
Even worse, the injuries sustained during a move can actually be debilitating problems like broken bones, major spinal strains, and hernias. In order to reduce your risk of injury, it’s important to take some measures before moving day. Here are some tips:
Wear a Brace
Back support belts are something you’ll see sported by even the most burly professional mover… and for good reason! Back injuries account for ⅕ of workplace injuries. And although back support belts aren’t going to eliminate any risk of injury, they can be a great help. It’s important to know that they don’t actually help you to bear a heavier load. Rather, they’re a useful reminder to brace your core as your lift and keep proper posture.
Lift with the Knees
You’ve probably heard this advice many times, but it’s not always easy to know what this means in practice, especially when you’re maneuvering an oddly-shaped item. However, it’s important to use your knees and limbs to support the weight of the object. Whenever you find yourself bending over to pick something up, check your knees. Are you crouched down to support the weight from underneath as soon as possible?
Hold weights close to your body, and move slowly and carefully.
Wear Gloves
While we worry about the possible muscular and internal injuries, we sometimes neglect to think about surface injuries like cuts and scrapes. However, amidst all of the other concerns occupying our minds during a move, it’s easy to later find nasty scratches on our knuckles and shins. In order to protect your hands (and therefore, often protect yourself from surprising scratches that might cause you to trip, or drop what you’re carrying,) you should wear protective gloves. Consider getting gardening gloves if you’re not someone who keeps utilitarian gloves handy.
Take Your Time and Clear the Space
Most of all, you can greatly reduce the risk of injury when you give yourself plenty of time to walk carefully and plan your pathway effectively. It’s especially important to keep a clear pathway and make sure you know where steps or impediments are, because they might be much harder to see while you’re carrying something that impedes your view.
Hire Help
Most of all, you can reduce your risk of injury (to almost nothing!) by hiring some professionals to step in and take care of the heavy lifting. Here at Wasatch Moving, we have one of the highest customer satisfaction rates in the state. We excel at stepping in and making sure that the job goes smoothly, so that you can concentrate on settling into your new home! Give us a call today to get a quote on your moving job.
