Sore Back

[Firefly]

Just had a rather alarming twinge while replacing 2 far-from-full supers on the BB. Classic lifting-while-twisting, I guess - the beekeeping equivalent of lifting a child into a car seat. Had to ask SWMBO to finish the job and now feeling rather sore

Not the first time in life - though the first time while manipulating bees or hives

Recommendations? Lumbar support while beekeeping? TBH? Flow-hive?

 

[VEG]

Man up and get on with it lol

 

[Dishmop]

You'll know better next time...

 

[Firefly]

It's the warm supportive ambiance that keeps me coming back to this forum

 

[wessexmario]

It's the warm supportive ambiance that keeps me coming back to this forum

just apply the ambiance to the lumbar region...

 

[madasafish]

It's the warm supportive ambiance that keeps me coming back to this forum

Just ignore the lack of support .. they'll grow old disgracefully eventually.

I suffered from occasional back pains for a decade culminating in a very painful sciatica attack last March where getting out of bed was so painful I nearly cried.

I do yoga but clearly my back was not strong/flexible enough so I now do back exercises designed to strengthen the back muscles . They take about 60 seconds and I do them once a day, 5 days a week. No issues now.

I do, however, adhere strictly to other rules.
No stretching and bending over and lifting. This is the worst you can do.
No twisting and bending: this is the second worst you can do.
Always bend you legs when lifting: they are stronger than your back or arms.
Ensure you are warm. Lifting when cold pulls tendons and muscles which are less flexible when cold.

And specifically for beekeeping: set your hives at a height where lifting is easy... and the ground is flat and level. So adjust hive stands and ensure the ground is level. No big stacks of supers.

If you must turn with weights, turn your legs...

I lifted jumbo lang brood boxes this spring - about 50kg... with no problems... but was very careful. And rebuilt a pond and grovelled under cars and dug things.. so exercises seem to have worked..

I have TBHs as well as langs... easier to handle.. but you occasionally have to move a full hive,, where help is essential.. 150kgs for a full one.. and big TBHs are unwieldy..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

One disc gone totally with me, two others on the way out and a wedge fracture. Just be careful is all I can say - swivelling from the hips is the worst thing you can do (that's what put paid to my back eventually) Now I'm a lot more careful than I was (pity I hadn't done that when I was a teenager - now carrying two one hundredweight bags of cement, one under each arm is a distant dream!)
Nowadays I just carry on aware that at the end of a busy day I'll have to suffer a bit and walk like an old(er) man the following morning It's lucky that us men have such high pain threshholds

 

[Firefly]

You see - I'm feeling better already

Thanks for the advice MAAF. Self-discipline - that's what I need

 

[B+.]

Recommendations? Lumbar support while beekeeping? TBH? Flow-hive?

Malt Whisky

 

[For want of a better word]

Rub some OSR honey into it.... gently warmed to blood heat first of course!

Yeghes da

 

[madasafish]

Malt Whisky

Gin helps better in my view especially if >40% proof...

As does Voltarol - preferably rubbed in by a young masseuse - not that I would know about such things...

 

[Firefly]

Rub some OSR honey into it.... gently warmed to blood heat first of course!

Yeghes da

Since that was also the cause, I guess there's a lot of sense in that. Just as good as Manuka, anyway

 

[Firefly]

Malt Whisky

Mmm. Internally or externally? I live beside a brewery and support them enthusiastically, but have never really taken to whisky. I was given some of this as a Christmas present and thought it was rather good - notwithstanding that it is not malt and it is whiskey not whisky: https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-2854.aspx

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Since that was also the cause, I guess there's a lot of sense in that. Just as good as Manuka, anyway

I was told Manuka was good for haemorrhoids. Well' my grandfather told me you may as well stick it up your a*se as eat it for its medicinal porpoises

 

[peteinwilts]

I am the proud owner of three slipped discs and several torn radials.

a couple of discs are extremely slippy I did a couple of years of physio to control the muscles, but every so often I am caught unaware.

I now cannot carry a heavy weight further than a short distance as the lowest discs 'crunch' and get extremely painful for many days.

My surgeon says my back is like a train wreck and will not touch it.... he said he would probably paralyse me!

Movement help keeps the discs from locking up, and am often forced to go for a walk or a wander around the house once or twice a night.... life sucks!

for the bees, I have built all of my stands to 'my' perfect height. I can pick up brood frames without stooping, and have a spare stand at each apiary to pop the lid, eke, insulation, crown etc on when inspecting.

I am retiring all of my 14x12 hives as the extra size of the frames pulls on the radials in my mid-back

The only issues I have is with full supers (chance would be a fine thing! looking forward to rain!). I bought myself a 4x4 so I can drive right up to the hives, and where this is not possible, I keep a inflatable wheeled 4 wheel garden trolley.

...where there is a will, there is a way!

 

[Firefly]

I bought myself a 4x4 so I can drive right up to the hives

Great excuse - thanks for the tip (though, to be honest I can get to mine in a Seat Leon with a ground clearance so low it will catch the crown of the road sometimes!)

Seriously well done though - I hope the bees appreciate it!

 

[Madge]

Instead of moving full boxes, have handy another box and move the frames into that as you inspect them, or until you can pick up the box without risking injuring your back.

 

[Dishmop]

It's the warm supportive ambiance that keeps me coming back to this forum

Its a good excuse to sit down for a while and rest the back though

 

[theeggman]

Its a good excuse to sit down for a while and rest the back though

All the best Dishmop.

 

[Dishmop]

All the best Dishmop.

I mean you dont want to pretend you are not as bad as you are, otherwise you might find yourself putting up shelves in the kitchen...

This morning I started to polish the roof of the motorhome........ got exhausted so we went out for afternoon cream tea in Holt.