Protect Your Feet With These Fall Yard Work Safety Tips
Fall yard cleanup duties can be tough on feet, so we want to share some tips to prevent damage, from lawn mower safety to common sense footwear solutions. During the fall, we clear out the remains of summer gardens, gather up leaves and try to keep up with cutting back swiftly growing grass. All that activity puts lots of pressure on the feet—and puts them in front of dangerous equipment. Want to stay safe and avoid foot pain and injury? Follow these important safety tips from your podiatrist serving Westfield, Carmel, Noblesville, Fishers & Zionsville, Ind.
Pick proper foot gear.
Any time you head into the yard, choose sturdy leather shoes that support your feet from sharp objects such as branches, thorns, or the blades of power equipment. Wearing sturdy, closed-toed shoes is an especially important element of lawn mower safety.
Avoid recruiting young helpers.
It’s important to keep kids away from power equipment such as leaf blowers, lawn mowers and chain saws. Don’t leave them out and unattended in areas where children play, and don’t let kids help with end of season grass cutting, even when following lawn mower safety tips.
Wait for dry conditions.
You should never perform yard work on wet surfaces. Slipping on wet grass or leaves increases your risk for falls and could lead to ankle sprains and fractures, especially if you’re carrying heavy loads of yard debris when you fall.
Take time to rest.
Remember, yard work is a workout! Before you head out to clear up, make sure to warm up and perform stretching exercises, just as you would before heading to the gym. By stretching prior to activity, you can help avoid stressing the muscles and tendons in the foot, ankle and calves. Then, after you’re done, remember to engage in a cool down stretch. Allow for rest days in between heavy-duty yard clearing sessions, to avoid overuse injuries and give your body time to recover.
Each year, at least 9,500 children are injured every year by lawn mowers and that’s not even considering the grownups whose feet fall victim to these machines. To keep yourself from becoming a statistic, follow these yard work safety tips and be sure to stop and make an immediate appointment with the office at the first sign of foot pain.