Summer brings people outdoors who many times have spent months relatively inactive due to the weather. Because of this, more muscle, tendon and bone injuries are reported. While your first thought may be that only strenuous exercise or athletic activities bring about the most injuries, the opposite is true. Athletes do experience more injuries in the summer, but more often than not it is the normally active or low active people that suffer the injuries. Children also experience far more injuries in the summer and require more trips to the emergency room.
A good number of injuries occur when performing tasks most people don’t even think of as exercise. Gardening, for example causes many summertime injuries. There is a lot of muscle movement in gardening. Digging, pulling weeds, planting; they all can cause muscle strain and weakness. When you garden you are stressing the back, knees and hips along with a good number of other muscles. Choosing tools with spring action and using knee pads are just two ways many injuries in the garden can be avoided. Sometimes simply kneeling or moving the wrong way can cause a muscle injury.
Summer is a great time for grilling, but that activity too can cause injuries. Yes, burn injuries are common, but less considered are the injuries caused by picking up a grill that has been knocked over. Tripping on barbecue grills is also common in the summer. Amusement parks also hide dangers. Many adults and children are injured on amusement rides in the summer. It may be caused by the jolts and movements of the ride itself, or our bodies tensing reaction to the effects of the rides, but injuries do occur, and often.
Lawn mowing is another activity that can cause muscle injury. It is another of the summer activities that see an increase in injury. Mowing the lawn can cause strain on the back, shoulders, arms and legs. Because it is an activity that few enjoy, good posture is probably the last thing on anyone’s mind when mowing. Care should be taken however to avoid injury.
Many times it is the simple and easiest tasks that cause the most summertime injuries. Summer activities such as walking have caused injuries such as shin splints or muscle aches due to starting off too fast once the weather turns warm. Walking is an excellent form of exercise and is recommended. However, care should be taken not to overdo your walking routine, especially when you first begin walking.
Playgrounds are the scene for many children’s injuries. Playground equipment such as the monkey bars can cause strain and injury to muscles and tendons even for a child. Yes, children are going to play and the playground equipment provides one of those great summer activities for kids, but supervision is recommended. It is best to exercise caution in any summer activity since the potential for injuries is increased. Summer brings people outdoors and that is natural; just take good care once you are out there to avoid injuries during summer activities.
