Bowling Green · Guide

A university town moves house twice a year

A university town does not move house gradually. It moves in two concentrated bursts, and one of them lands in Kentucky in August. That means a very large number of people doing a year's worth of lifting inside one weekend, in heat, up stairs, against a lease deadline.

Nobody gets hurt on the first box

They get hurt on the last load, tired, hot, in a hurry, carrying something awkward through a doorway or round a landing. The mechanism is fatigue plus haste plus an awkward shape, and the weight involved is usually unremarkable.

• Heavy items first, while you are fresh. Not last because you were dreading them.
• Turn your feet toward what you are lifting rather than twisting to reach it. Lifting and rotating at the same time is the most reliable way to hurt a back.
• Two trips beats one. Always.

Heat

Working in August heat means you fatigue sooner and technique goes sooner with it. Take the break before you need it, because the last hour is where the risk actually is.

Stairs with a load

You cannot square your feet to what you are carrying on a stairway, and you are twisting to see the next step while holding weight away from your body. Put the heavy thing down at the landing rather than carrying it through the turn.

When it is worth talking to somebody

Aching for a few days after a move is normal. Worth a conversation with a qualified provider: pain that came on suddenly during a lift, anything travelling down a leg, numbness or tingling, weakness in a leg or foot, or any loss of bladder or bowel control, which needs urgent care.

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