The days after Christmas usually bring flurries of gift returns, feasting on leftovers and mapping New Year’s resolution plans for most people in Shelby County.

But the post-Yule period can also bring an increase in neck, back, shoulder and other injuries.

Shelby Baptist Medical Center Manager of Occupational Medicine and physical therapist Dana Blake said she sees foot, neck and back injuries after Christmas. Blake gave some tips to avoid holiday injuries.

-Make sure to space out holiday work, like cooking and shopping, to avoid some unwanted physical effects of the holidays.

-If you try to cram eight hours of shopping and four hours of cooking into one day, that will put you at risk for minor, and sometimes major, injuries.

-Blake said many will try to get all their shopping or cooking done in one day and, in the process, overexert themselves. Shoppers should take breaks during shopping days to keep their bodies from becoming overly fatigued or injured.

-When shopping at an outdoor shopping center like Alabaster’s Colonial Promenade, consider parking at one end of the center and gradually moving your car as you progress from store to store.

-Being well-rested and wearing comfortable shoes can also prevent injuries, as can wearing a lighter purse and always lifting heavy items with your legs instead of your back.

The We Say is the opinion of the Shelby County Reporter editorial board.