The Dangers of Heavy Lifting
The Dangers of Heavy Lifting
By Yair D. Kissin, MD
Very few people haven’t hurt themselves lifting something “the wrong way.”
At the least, we’ve all been told by our favorite uncle or our overprotective mother
to “lift with the legs.” But what does that actually mean?
As an orthopedic surgeon, I see all sorts of injuries, resulting from both
recreation and work related injuries. Certain activities put people at more
risk of injuries than others; particularly, lifting heavy objects, such as what
furniture movers do all day.
Did you know that over eighty percent of people will miss work and see a
doctor at some point in their life for treatment of low back pain? That's
just low back pain! Other injuries to the rest of the body’s bones, joints,
muscles, tendons and ligaments are responsible for a great deal more
days off from work.
Generally speaking, moving heavy objects can damage our bodies
tremendously; bones can break, ligaments can tear and muscles can
become strained. Any one of these injuries can mean a trip to the doctor
and weeks, even months out of work and playing any kind of sports.
Let’s talk about the specific body parts that can sustain injuries from lifting heavy objects.
Specifically, moving a large article of furniture can cause a herniated disk
in the back, usually in the lumber spine (lower back) or cervical spine
(neck). The spine is made up of 33 vertebrae, which are the bones that
surround and protect the spinal cord and nerves that go out to the arms
and legs. The back feels pressure from just about any movement you do,
especially those encountered from moving. It is important to keep the
back straight to spread that pressure correctly; after all, it IS called a
spinal column. Columns are meant to be straight. If there is too much of
a bend in the spine while lifting a heavy object, this incorrectly distributes
the forces, and can do damage. A herniated disk is when the soft cushion
between the vertebrae protrudes out and presses on a nerve. This can
cause pain down the arms and legs and usually requires a course of
physical therapy, but sometimes needs an injection of steroid
anti-inflammatory medication or even surgery!
Shoulders can be affected by causing as little as an inflammation, such as
bursitis or tendonitis, or even worse, a rotator cuff tear, which is an injury
to the muscles that stabilize the shoulder’s ball in its socket. Many
patients, especially young and active ones who cannot operate their arm
normally after such injuries require arthroscopic surgery if nonoperative
methods fail.
The elbow and hand can also have similar injuries to the ones discussed,
such as torn ligaments or tendons making these smaller joints unstable,
which sometimes requires reconstructive surgery.
In the lower extremity, especially the hip and knee, forces that are seven
to eight times one’s body weight cross the joints with every step of normal
walking. Now imagine what kind of forces cross the joint with lifting heavy
objects! It’s like suddenly gaining 200 pounds. The ligaments/muscles
surrounding these joints are made to withstand a tremendous amount of
force, but there is a breaking point. It is therefore very important to keep
the structures that surround the joints strong, and take breaks to prevent
overexertion of the muscles. If the muscles are tired, they may give out
while lifting something heavy and result in a serious injury.
Besides the acute injuries that can occur from moving heavy objects,
doing this kind of activity for a long period of time can put you at risk of
developing disabling arthritis many years after you no longer work for the
furniture moving companies. Osteoarthritis, known also as “wear and
tear” arthritis, is degeneration of the cartilage on the ends of our bones
that allows our joints to glide smoothly. This is usually related to activities
that, for many years, put a lot of force, sometimes excessive force, across
our joints. Particularly, the knees and then the hips are the most prone to
the long term damages of heavy lifting. I perform more and more knee
and hip replacements in patients in their fifties and even in their forties
than surgeons in the generation before me ever performed, and a lot of
this is directly related to the damage done by years and years of
baby boomers abusing their bodies. In fact, this year, orthopedic
surgeons will perform over 600,000 knee replacements and 300,000 hip
replacements in the United States; that number is expected to rise
exponentially over the next few years.
As a last thought, perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind
(besides not dropping the couch on your foot!) if you are planning on
doing such strenuous activity as working for a moving company for a living
is not just knowing what sort of injuries you can sustain, but how to
prevent them. That brings us back to the beginning of the article and how
not to lift "the wrong way." Staying in proper overall shape by conditioning
the body to sustain such loads as those encountered when moving heavy
objects is of utmost importance. Not putting the body in positions that
make it prone to injury is one of the ways to protect it. The recommended
way of lifting something heavy is by bending from the knees, keeping the
back as erect as possible (perpendicular to the ground like a column
holding up a ceiling), and pushing up off the feet, calves, knees and
thighs, rather than bending from the lower back and hips to lift something
up; think of yourself as squeezing out a tube of toothpaste from the bottom
to top! Also, slow and steady motion, rather than sharp motions can
prevent injuries to the structures we discussed.
Additionally, wearing braces such as lower back supports can help
prevent injuries to the back while moving furniture and other heavy
objects. They provide somewhat of a scaffold around the lower back, that
helps relieve some of the pressure.
Let’s not forget that in order for an elite athlete to perform at his or her
best on the field during a game, there is a tremendous amount of training
that goes into preparing the body for such strenuous exertion. If you work
as a mover, think of yourself as a star athlete, and when you are moving
furniture, you are on the field, but if you didn’t properly train beforehand,
you will not be performing at your best, and even put yourself at risk of
injury.
Be careful!
Yair D. Kissin, MD
Insall Scott Kelly Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
Hackensack, NJ
Website: orthodoc.aaos.org/drykissin
