Recovering From Summer Activity

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• Repetitive Activities Cause Shoulder, Neck And Back Pain, According To Physical Therapists

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  With changes in weather, it’s hard to know when Wisconsin will experience its last warm day of the year. As a result, many people take advantage of the sunny days as they come, spending time outside doing their favorite outdoor activities like gardening.

  But doing a lot of activity in a short amount of time can be harmful to one’s health, according to Lori Thein Brody, physical therapist and athletic trainer with the University of Wisconsin Sports Medicine and Spine Center.

  “We had several days of rain and then we have a few days over the weekend of beautiful weather, and so people get out there and they get a lot done in a short period of time. And when that happens, people get hurt,” said Thein Brody.

  For example, she said her family shoveled woodchips this past weekend, which required lifting, hauling and dumping, all in a few hours.

  Similar repetitive activities cause pain primarily in the shoulders, neck and back. To reduce risk of injury, she suggested recovery time as a solution.

  “There’s a lot of information on how to do the activity — the lifting, the bending, this and that or the sports participation — but there’s an exploding area of research on recovery,” Thein Brody said.

  According to Bill Boissonnault, senior physical therapist at the Spine Center Physical Therapy Clinic of the UW Hospital and Clinics, the recovery principle refers to letting the body shut down and rest for a while. The principle is applicable to any age group and any activity and helps to enhance performance in the future.

  Besides the physical benefits, recovery allows for reflection and mental preparation which all work to improve future activity.

  “Recovery is more than just time based. There’s a physical, there’s a psychological, there’s an emotional peace to recovering from activity,” Thein Brody said.