Health Tip: Protect Your Hands While Gardening

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Digging and weeding can pose dangers for your hands, so use caution while working in your garden.

The American Society for Surgery of the Hand suggests these precautions:

• Wear a pair of leather gloves to protect hands from bites, scratches, blisters, poison ivy, chemicals, fertilizers, bacteria and sunburn.
• Perform a different task every 15 minutes to avoid repetitive use of the same muscles. Such tasks include: raking, digging, planting, trimming or pruning.
• Use a small hand shovel to dig, to avoid cuts from buried debris.
• Make sure any sharp tool has a safety lock. Only use such as tool as intended.
• Practice proper body posture. And make sure your wrists are relaxed and straight (not bent) for maximum strength.
• Avoid tools with grooves on the handles that are meant to improve grip. If such tools don’t fit your hand, they can lead to soreness and calluses.

Source: HealthDay

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