Can Mopping Floors Strain Your Neck

Wet floor sign in the area.

Can mopping floors strain your neck.

Forward and back side to side figure eight etc. If you hurry through your routine cleaning chores without paying attention to proper posture you may feel back pain later in the day. Also try to keep your head up as much as possible to avoid strain on your neck. Dust mopping is a completely different motion.

Bending lifting and twisting movements can easily strain the back but sweeping and mopping often involve all of these movements. There is also sustained bending of the upper body and neck. Mopping is a common cause of repetitive motion injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome tendonitis and back pain. According to anna friedman a doctor of physical therapy and clinic director at ret pt group of redmond washington carrying groceries yard work painting doing the dishes and even mopping.

Injury can be prevented by changing the way we maintain floors and that brings us to microfiber flat mops. Might need to exercise in order to mop without pain. Keep the shovel as close to your body as you can to avoid overreaching and bend at your knees instead of at your back. It s the second leading cause of cleaning related injuries after trash handling according to an ergonomics study by the university of california.

Neck strain is often just called whiplash although it s usually associated with car accidents any impact or blow that causes your head to jerk forward or backward can cause neck strain. Try to keep the mop handle as vertical as possible while you re mopping. Alternate mopping patterns. Avoid twisting your body reaching out far with the mop or keeping your wrists bent for much of the time.

Can mopping cause back pain answered by dr. Injuries almost always come from wet mopping because of the physics of swinging a mop handle attached to a 5 pound wet mop. When your posture is tall and erect the muscles of your back can easily support the weight of your head and neck as much as 12 pounds said erik peper a professor of holistic health. Use knee pads if you have to kneel.

Similar to vacuuming and mopping the repetitive stretching pulling and reaching that is inherent in raking leaves will stress and strain virtually every muscle in your back. Tips and improvement ideas place a caution.