In the article “Proper lifting techniques to protect your spine”, Summitorthopedics (2019) proposes many applicable lifting techniques to avoid back injury. Back pain is a common occurrence and back injuries usually come from lifting. The writer emphasizes the high number of back injuries due to lifting with information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that “more than one million workers” suffer from back injuries annually because of lifting. It is common knowledge to bend the knees for safe lifting, however few know that additional postures and planning will greatly ensure success. Estimating the weight of the object and understanding your own limits before doing any lifting is crucial to deciding whether additional help is needed for lifting the object. During lifting, in addition to bending the knees, pushing your chest forward will ensure the back is straight and no over loading is on it during lifting. While lifting the object, do not twist your body as that leads to a “dangerously” higher chance of a back injury. Lastly the writer advises to always hold lifted objects as close to your body as possible because lifting objects that are further from your center of gravity will cause more loading to your lower back.
This article is extremely helpful to my project in supporting the claim that elderly people are not able to properly lift a loaded laundry basket. Describing the technique advised by the writer to properly lift objects which is to bend the knees and keep the back straight allowed the team to emphasize that the elderly have weak knees and lack core strength to keep their back straight during lifting. Therefore, leading to higher chances of back injuries for the elderly when they attempt to lift a typical loaded laundry basket.
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