Dr. Wayne Coghlan: Chiropractor

How not to break your back shovelling snow February 1, 2011 Brandie Weikle What could be more natural than a Canadian shovelling snow? A Canadian with a back, arm or wrist injury, apparently. The Ontario Chiropractic Association (OCA) conducted a survey of members and found that the most common cause of winter injury treated by chiropractors is careless snow shovelling. “The number one reason is that people don’t realize how heavy the snow is,” explains Natalia Lishchyna, an Oakville chiropractor and vice president of the OCA. “A shovel full of snow is probably five to seven pounds, so it’s probably several hundred pounds per driveway. They go out there and try to do it all at once, and that’s when you get strains and sprains, or worse, a disc injury.” When a bunch of people who don’t ge