Back injuries are one of the most commonly occurring injuries in the home, especially those resulting from playing with your children. There are many ways that a back injury can occur during simple horseplay, especially when parents are not really on their guard against injury. When children are older and of course weigh more, parents are more likely to be aware of the risk associated with lifting and carrying them during play, but a back injury can be sustained even when playing with very young, and very lightweight, child.

Importance of Playing with your Child

This is not to suggest that playing with your child should be avoided due to the risk of back injury. Most child development experts recommend regular play with your child because it has numerous short-term and long-term benefits. It has long been known that this kind of activity develops your child’s motor skills and adds to their continued health. Additionally, this kind of physical play fosters bonding with the parent and supplies the tactile connection that a child thrives on. The interplay with children is generally enjoyable for the parent as well, providing moments of fun and laughter that become lasting memories of a child’s early years.

Tips on Preventing Back Injury During Child Play

To ensure that play with your child stays fun and doesn’t become an activity that threatens the health of your back, there are a few things you can do to keep things safe. Some of these suggestions might seem like overkill, but back injuries are no laughing matter, and once incurred, they tend to persist for very long, uncomfortable periods of time.

According to Laser Health Spa (www.laserhealthspa.net), if you happen to be lifting the child during play, make sure you stand close to him or her and bend at the knees, not at the waist, because all the strain of lifting is immediately transferred to your back in such a posture. When holding the child for any amount of time, be sure to keep him/her close to your body — as opposed to holding at arm’s length — to minimize strain on the back. Ideally, every time you lift, hold, or carry your child, you should stop and think for a few seconds to make yourself aware of the potential dangers.

Prior to playing with your child, it’s a good idea to warm up by doing some stretching. The muscles in your back can easily become tightened just through normal, daily activities, and when there’s a sudden strain or stress applied to tightened muscles, a pulled muscle is one possible—and common –result. Golfers are well aware of this, since their sport places tremendous strain on the back, so all golfers will warm up their backs prior to practice or actual play.

Be especially mindful of horseplay with older and heavier children, because the risk of injury increases with the weight of the child. For instance, ‘playing horsie’ with the child riding on your back might have been cute and fun at age 4 or 5, but at older ages there is a much greater possibility of injury because of the increased weight.

Of course, maintaining an ideal body weight is always a good tip for avoiding back strain, but even at less than ideal weight, exercising the abdominal muscles is a great way to relieve additional strain on the back. If this kind of exercise is done on a regular basis, a parent can be much better prepared for unexpected stresses placed on the back during child play.

This article was contributed on behalf of Laser Health Spa, your number one choice when looking for alternative treatments for neck pain. Check out their website today and see how they can help you!