Holiday Shopping and Your Back: Carry Smart, Stand Tall, Enjoy the Day

Long shopping days can be just as hard on your back as heavy lifting. The strain comes from standing in lines, carrying bags on one side, loading the trunk and driving home, not from any single heavy item.

As the holiday season gets going, shopping trips in and around Sussex and Morris County get longer and more frequent. Your back does not need a training plan to survive them, just a few habits that spread the work across your body instead of piling it on one side.

One-shoulder bags are the classic culprit. A heavy bag hanging off one side pulls your whole spine out of line, and you feel it by the time you reach the car. Use both hands, switch sides, or carry a backpack that sits on both shoulders. Less is more too: several light trips to the car beat one overloaded one.

Standing in a checkout line or wandering a store for hours is its own strain. Keep your weight on both feet, change position often, and do not lock your knees. If you have been on your feet a while, find a bench for a few minutes rather than pushing through.

Loading bags into a trunk invites a twist-and-bend that backs do not like. Stand close to the trunk, bend with your legs, keep the load against your body, and turn with your feet rather than twisting your spine. Let the cart take the weight as long as you can before you lift anything.

If you are shopping with little ones, push rather than carry when you can, and keep strollers and carts close to your body so you are not reaching. If the day includes a long drive home, plan a stretch break, because a tired seated spine feels it by the end of the trip.

Dr. Gregory Martin has practiced chiropractic since 1996 and sees patients at his Sparta office at 283 Sparta Avenue and at Speedwell Family Chiropractic at 520 Speedwell Avenue in Morris Plains. If back or neck discomfort is getting in the way of the season, call or text (973) 699-4100 to schedule an evaluation.