jags
ArboristSite Guru
Slow down and a weight lifting belt are my 2 saviors.
Swamp Yankee - You didn't say if you had a splitter? One of my best fixes for back pain was cutting mine apart - And rebuilding it to fit me. Raised the bed up to waist height, added a loglift, a 'woodcatcher' grate on the front, and lastly, i made it self propelled. No more lifting that tounge weight & pushing or pulling it. I split a halfcord a day now, thats it. Used to do 2 or more. 2 trips to the o.r. for my back cured me of the 'I'm still 18 syndrome' Bucking up logs now gets me worse than splitting. Anything over 6 or 8 inches, I'm on one knee. At 6' 2", that bending angle for bucking is a killer. If your backpain comes from inflamation, ice is better than heat. Ibuprofin never helped mine, but raised hell with my stomach. There was one of the nisid drugs called Bextra that helped a lot, darn near made me feel normal, but the Vioxx suit took it out too. I don't do pain pills [only right after the surgery's] mostly because when it hurts, I stop. If it didn't hurt, I'd keep going. We bought a Tempur-Pedic mattress too, lot of $$$, but that helps too. No matter how bad mine gets by the end of the day, laying on that mattress really helps. I've tried to mechanize my wood/sawmill stuff as much as I can, the "I can lift that log" days are over.
Right from the doc..... stretch first and take some ibuprofin beforehand. Works great for me.
i start out splitting a little by hand with a maul.seems to stretch the back out.inversion tables also help a lot.
not sure if anyone has suggested this yet, but a strong core will help with back problems.
I'm trying the I refuse to get old method, but Mother Nature isn't helping.
Looking for a suggestions particularly from those more "experienced" (nice term for old ___), that have back issues and how you deal with them when working with wood.
About 6 years ago I went down for over a year with a disk and sciatic issue. Finally got back on my feet and have been cutting, though not to the extent that I would like. Anyway, before I start and when I finish, I stretch my back and legs as the physical therapist taught me. I try not to overdo it in terms of lifting and bending, but hey there's only so much you can do.
Anybody else care to share some helpful hints or practices they use to keep from getting laid up with back issues.
Take Care
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