Tip of the week: Pain-free present wrapping
You finally get a moment to yourself and start wrapping your presents. Yes you know that ideally everything should be set up on a table, with a perfectly adjusted chair and everything to hand at exactly the right height for you.
But this is the real world, and you are perched on the edge of your bed, with piles of presents, the wrapping paper, scissors and sticky tape, which keeps getting stuck to the duvet.
Now, keeping everything crossed that no one is going to open the door before you have finished, you begin.
Ten minutes in and your back has started to ache, that burning feeling between your shoulder blades is building up, and you can feel the beginnings of your tension headache.
So what should you do?
Here are our top tips for present wrapping in less than ideal situations:
1. Set yourself up so you are not twisting and bending at the same time – while you certainly don’t need to hold yourself ramrod straight the whole time, your back won’t be happy if you spend time hunched over, particularly if you are repeatedly turning to pick things up and place them after you having finished wrapping. So try to use a table rather than the bed or floor, or kneel on a cushion next to the bed. Prepare the area before you start, so scissors, labels, sticking tape, etc are within easy reach. If you have heavy presents, either ask for help to move them, or wrap them where they are, if possible, rather than lifting them yourself.
2. Change tasks frequently – repetitive movements are more likely to cause tension and pain, so breaking up your tasks is much better than spending a long time on the same thing. For example, rather than putting all the presents in a pile to start with, you could fetch and wrap them one at a time. That way, you will have to change position and your body will thank you for the movement.
3. Listen to your body – either take a break or alter what you are doing as soon as you become aware of an increase in tension anywhere in your body. You could also change the position in which you are working – stand instead of sitting, and vice versa. By responding to your body’s whispers, it is less likely to shout and cause a flare up of your symptoms.
4. Check in with your shoulders – are they rising up to your ears? This is a common problem and tension in the muscles that run across the top of your shoulders can also lead to neck pain and headaches. If this is happening for you, give us a call for advice on how to help yourself.
5. Breathe – giving yourself time to breathe out releases tension and helps your muscles to relax. When we are concentrating on a task, we often hold our breath without realising, and this habit leads to pain and tension. For more information on how to change this habit, have a look at this article.
We hope that these tips will help you to enjoy a pain-free Christmas!