Tips For Packing Boxes And Moving Without Breaking Your Back
Packing up the contents of your home can be quite hard work—and we all know what hard work can do
to your back! But if you’re careful, you can get all your packing and moving done without givingyourself either backache or a hernia. It’s all down to taking a little bit of care:Tryto pack over the course of a few weeks, rather than rushing everything at the last minute. This willensure that you pack efficiently and carefully but, most importantly, that you don’t overwork yourback. Packing a few moving boxes a day at first will allow your back to get used to bending andlifting, without straining.Don’t leap out of bed and begin packing straight away. Getyour body moving first, to loosen your joints and, if possible, do the sort of warm-up you’d dobefore exercising, followed by a short stretch of your whole body. After each packing session, whileyou are still warm, rather than letting yourself fall into a comfy chair, spend another 5 or 10minutes stretching again, to release the tension in the muscles. This way you shouldn’t be soreand stiff the next day. If you wish, and especially if you have a weak back already, use a supportbelt when actually lifting and moving boxes.Use large moving boxes only for items thatreally need them, and don’t overload them. If you have a bulky item, put it in a box with spacearound it, then fill the space with light packing fillers, such as bubble wrap, air-filled bags, orpolystyrene chips. It may seem expensive and wasteful of space, but it will make moving the box mucheasier, and you can always save the fillers for use next time you move, so the expense will be worthit in the end.Pack heavy items into small moving boxes, so that each one is notuncomfortable to pick up and move. Lighter items, such as clothes and shoes, can go into mediummoving boxes, but try to stick to ones that are not too big to grasp and lift easily.Once boxes are packed, stack them neatly in piles of boxes of the same size against the wall ofthe room. If you have a spare room, use this one in preference, so that you won’t have to walkaround the moving boxes in the rest of the house. When stacking, and when lifting in general, followbest practice: to pick up, keep your back as straight as possible, bend at the knees, and be sure tograsp the box firmly. Straighten your knees rather than using your back to lift the box off thefloor, and try to keep your neck aligned with your back while lifting, moving, and lowering thebox.Take care of your back when moving from your old house and, believe me, you’llenjoy being in the new one all the more!
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