When you push someone in a wheelchair, you may be hurting your back without knowing it. Researchers measured the forces on the spine caused by pushing a wheelchair, and discovered that people aren’t good at judging when they’re exerting forces strong enough to hurt their back. The study appears in the journal Ergonomics.

When asked to push a simulated wheelchair against increasing resistance, study participants typically exceeded the recommended limits to avoid back injury by nearly 20 percent before they decided to quit. Pushing against a heavy object compresses the spine, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and health sets a compression limit at a little over 760 pounds of force (3,400 newtons) to prevent injury.

While pushing against the simulated wheelchair, male volunteers pushed past this limit about 34 percent of the time.

Also among the findings: Turning a wheelchair is harder on the back than pushing in a straight line. Turning the simulated wheelchair increased spinal forces by roughly 40 percent, because the volunteers had to stabilize their back using their core muscles while they pushed with one hand and pulled with the other.

This study shows that people won’t feel uncomfortable after they’ve exceeded the actual limits for avoiding injury by around 20 percent.

Chiropractors are trained in alleviating lower back pain and specialize in doing so. They can offer a range of non-drug therapies for back pain and recommend exercises and important lifestyle changes to help prevent future back pain and injury.

Presented as a service to the community by: Union County Chiropractic Clinic, 110 Skyline Drive, Maynardville, TN (865) 992-7000 www.unioncountychiropractic.com.