Hi all. I was wondering how many of you would admit to physical health issues when gardening. Just gardening - bending, twisting, lifting weights of various kinds, reaching a little beyond our comfortable range, can take its toll. The use of machinery, whether heavy or light, repeatedly, month after month and year after year just adds to the toll. How do you avoid wrecking your body? I was a career change gardener so didn't start when really young, but have now been at it full time for around 13 years. In the last few years, though I've been finding I have a lot of shoulder/neck issues and this year it's got so bad I'm in a little pain even before I have done any gardening so am dreading the season really getting going.
Things like my knees and hips and ankles aren't too bad, but I sometimes also get twinges in my wrists and a few years back I had to have physio for 'scar tissue' in my hand - I used to lean on my trowel handle and reach for weeds with the other. I had treatment, did massage on it and it's vastly improved. I also don't lean on my trowel handle anymore.
A while back I was talking to another gardener who does the 'big stuff' for my client - the tall shrubs, trees and so on, nearly all with a hedge cutter and he wasn't yet 40 but was complaining of shoulder issues. I said if he wasn't careful he may not be able to do the job in another 10 years and potentially he could have 20 at least ahead of him if he doesn't wreck his body.
So what issues have you had and how do you treat them/avoid them/live with them? Is it simply a matter of fitness? Is it possible to garden with serious machinery after a certain age? Should you do so or are we storing up years of pain in our later years when we finally put the machines down for good when arthritis and nerve problems get worse?
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Chronic back pain here. Personally, I've found relief through CBD oil. It has significantly eased my back pain, allowing me to continue gardening without as much discomfort.
I get it from Releaf, a medical cannabis clinic here in the UK. What I appreciate most about them is their professional approach and the quality of their products. They provide detailed information about each product's composition and potential benefits, which has helped me make informed decisions about my health.
Much as I hate admitting it, a hard physical job like gardening damages the body in the long-term and there really is very little you can do to avoid it.................... you may well be fine in your younger years but once you're in your late 50's onwards, the rot usually sets in slowly....... those little aches and pains that just don't go away. Basically, things are just wearing out which is hardly surprising really when you consider the use its getting............ probably far more than God designed it for!! .
Sadly, any hard labouring job just wears the body out............ we're pushing it far harder than it was designed for and things will just wear out. Problem is we all carry on when we are getting warning signs..... those painful joints for example............... that shoulder that hurts using the hedgecutter..... we should stop but the truth is we don't want to. If you look at most people that have had a hard physical job, they're often pretty clapped out in their secventies....... sad really. .
I am past retirement age & have no joint issues. One abolute essential is to avoid bending by using long handles. I use the longest Wolf Garten handle & have even been known to use a litter picker to pick up rather than bending.
I very wise old man told me to use my brain for working, not my muscles. With every job I try to think about how can I make it easier.
Never work through pain - it's there as a warning. I know lots of older people who say they just soldier on & end up broken..
Sorry for stealing this thread, just wanted to share my journey and ask if some of these symptoms are normal. To give you a little back story, I only started my gardening business approx 3 months ago, coming from a relatively sedentary job, but am generally quite fit.
To cut a short story short, I recently had a blood test showing a slightly elevated CRP and Ferritin, which is not too bad. Since then, I've developed aches in my hands, ankles, and knees, particularly painful fingers, reduced grip strength, and soles. I bought orthopaedic insoles, which helped a little, but not much. Anyway, fast forward 1st of August, ferritin levels increased significantly, and my last BT on 15th of August, ferritin remains elevated 445 ug/L. I've also developed itchiness, particularly exaggerated at night. Anyone have similar symptoms?
On a side note - I previously had hay fever (bad), but read studies stinging nettles can reduce symptoms.. well I stopped taking anti histamines a month ago.. quite interesting..
Anyway, sorry for stealing thread. Have a nice day
Michael, I can speak with some authority on insoles being born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta which at the time, late 50's there was no treatment for and spent much of my childhood in leg irons ( don't suppose any members will know what they are or have ever seen them) ! With medical opinion predicting being confined to a wheelchair by age 20. By good luck and the efforts of my consultant who smuggled a new drug back from the States which was not licensed in the UK I made a partial recovery but was left badly deformed feet and have had to wear bespoke insoles ( known as Orthotics in the medical world) ever since.
Suggest you contact an Orthotist and pay privately to have some bespoke insoles made ( you'll wait forever on the NHS) off the shelf insoles are a waste of time. I'm sure from experience that once your feet are sorted you will find that the other physical complaints will reduce or dissapear.
Can't advise on the rest but my health improved considerably when I became vegetarian 40 years ago.
I was a late career changer at 40. I managed fine until I turned 54 last year, now my feeble female skeleton doesn't like using my big kit anymore. I've resolved that by upgrading things like my Stihl long reach hedge trimmer. I use a Stihl model now that has the motor held in a backpack, so you only have the weight of the actual tool on your upper body and arms. It's turned 10kg+ hedge trimmers into 2.5kg weight on my shoulders and arms. It's also cut down the vibration from the motor that was starting to wreck my tendons and nerves in my hands and arms. Game changer for me, I'm back doing hedges and enjoying doing them again. Actually wish I'd bought one years ago, my shoulders, arms and hands would still be in much better shape now.
Hi, I've had lower back trouble on and off since my twenties (I'm 50 now) . Last year when I went to my chiropractor mate he did the usual beating me up, then I told him I do my stretching exercises every morning before getting out of bed, he said to also do them before going to sleep at night, so I do and I have to say it's made a difference. I'm not mended and never will be but the spasms are certainly less frequent now.
I was a later starter, 48, and have been in professional gardening for 15 years but gardened for myself for many years before and was always fit and active from an early age. Then my main activities were cycling and martial arts. For me the biggest thing to help was finding my pace and sticking to it. Early on, I'd rush and end up hurting myself but I learned my pace, which is basically plodding, and it's one I can stick to for hours. It may not look fast but I get a great deal done. I treat moving through garden beds as if I'm doing tai chi, so move slowly and carefully. It feels good and means I don't inadvertently trample anything.
Decent winter gloves were a game changer too as my fingers were starting to complain from working in the cold. Tegera have a range of excellent thermal gloves and I use them all winter. Same with boots, good footware is so important.
Another thing that helps is to buy good quality, lightweight tools and to keep all blades sharp, which lessens effort when using them.
I don't know how long I'll last, but it's important to me to keep moving and I worry I might seize up if I stop.
Ive been gardening about 6 years and have a few niggles here and there - right shoulder, knee and ankle have an given me a bit of grief while I've been doing this job, but I do love it - love being outside every day, working to the beat of my own drum...
In terms of what I've done about it - physio for all three areas has definitely helped and I've focused on strengthening the ankle and knee with exercises I alternate every morning. Buying battery tools has been great - a bit lighter and less overall toll on my body. I try where possible not to work on the same kind of task repetitively for too long - try to have a few jobs in each garden where I can be standing/digging/bending/crouching so I can get up and do something different to change my body position. I've got a Shakti mat (one of those horrible ones with spikes on) that I do find helps to loosen my back a bit after a day's grafting. I also have a pretty firm rule to only work 6 hours per day max...I know this may not be possible for everybody but I keep my overall life costs low and can get by pretty well on the money I earn. Hot baths with epsom salts are good!! I find occasional chiropractic appointmenta great to loosen off any tension in my back... Also find a relaxation practice of meditation/breathing good to help me reduce stress and so not carry it in my body, which I feel can lead to more injuries etc if you're holding onto tension.
Hope some of this helps!
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