5 Injury-Preventing Tips for Your Fountain Valley Move

5 Injury-Preventing Tips for Your Upcoming Move

Moving can be more than figurative a pain in the hind end. It can also be a literal pain in the back. Unfortunately, packing and moving is a prime time for injury – both to yourself and to those who are helping you with the moving process. Picking up heavy furniture and boxes, packing fragile items, and everything else that comes with moving can easily cause injury.

If you want to avoid injury during your move, take these five tips from your expert Fountain Valley moving company:

1.Slow down.

It’s all too easy to rush when moving. There is, after all, so much to get done in so little time. But you’ll only leave yourself open to injury if you rush through packing and moving. If you don’t give yourself time, you’re also likely to break fragile items – which can then result in cuts and bruises when you go to clean it up.

The best way to prevent injury during your move is to start early and work slowly. Most experts suggest you start packing at least four weeks before your move if you aren’t hiring professionals for the packing process. But you should leave even more time than this, especially if you work full time or have loads of stuff to pack up.

2.Use proper body mechanics.

The second most common reason people get injured during a move is using bad body mechanics. The lower back is especially prone to strains and other injuries, as it’s one of the weakest spots in your body. If you lift heavy items in a particular way, you’ll leave your back open to such injuries. Even lifting lighter-weight items repeatedly can cause long-lasting back problems.

To avoid injury to your lower back, you’ll need to learn to use proper body mechanics every time you’re picking up something heavy. The most important part of proper body mechanics is to lift using the strength in your legs, rather than in your back. Not sure how this works? Consult with a doctor or a licensed physical therapist for a tutorial. Taking the time to learn and use proper body mechanics will be worth your while, as it can prevent debilitating injury.

3.Use gloves.

Having gloves nearby during the packing and moving process is a good idea. Gloves are great to have if you break something glass or otherwise with sharp edges. It can help you pick up the pieces without slicing open a finger.

Gloves are also handy if you’re packing up furniture as you pack. Sometimes wooden furniture, especially, will have tacks or small upholstery nails sticking out of the bottom panels. If you can’t see them when you pick up the piece of furniture, you’ll scratch your hands on these items. Wearing gloves as a precaution can help.

4.Keep pathways tidy.

When you’re in the middle of the DIY packing process, it can be hard to keep things tidy. It always seem to get messier before it gets cleaner! But it’s essential that you keep pathways, especially, clear of boxes and debris. It’s all too easy to trip over a box or another item that’s in an unexpected place.

Make it a point to stack packed boxes in a particular place, and to keep a clear pathway through each room as you pack it. And definitely keep boxes and other items out of narrow hallways. This is especially helpful at night when you’re walking around in semi-darkness, and can easily trip over items in high-traffic areas.

5.Hire movers for heavy, hard-to-move items.

Finally, hiring Fountain Valley movers to do at least some of the work can help prevent injury. When dealing with extremely heavy items, it’s likely a better option to pay movers to deal with it, rather than to pay for potential doctor’s bills down the road when you turn up injured. Luckily, most great moving companies offer customizable packages, so you can pay for only the services you need, and not those that you don’t.

Even if you take these five steps, it’s still easy to come up with an injury during a move. This is especially true if you’re asking friends and family members to help on moving day. Remember, you could be held liable for any injuries to non-hired-help that happens on your property, so it’s especially important to be aware of these potential issues and solutions on moving day.