The Risks of Being Santa Claus

Part I: Heavy Lifting

Santa Claus spends all year long getting ready to do one of the most difficult jobs of all time. Preparing and delivering presents around the world can have many risks, especially for an elderly and overweight man such as Santa. This is a three-part segment where we will cover some of the most important health risks that doing Santa’s job can have.  

In this first part, we will talk about the risks of lifting heavy objects. This is one of the major tasks that Santa must carry out. During Christmas, he lifts toys and other kinds of presents. Many of these can be heavy enough to put Santa’s back and joint at risk. First, he must repeatedly lift the presents and get them inside the sleigh, then he drives for long hours and must get every toy out of the sleigh, go down chimneys and safely deliver them under the Christmas trees of millions of families.

Of course, this process can have serious health consequences such as muscle tears and other injuries in the back, elbows, neck, knees, shoulders, wrists, and other body parts.

Bones are surrounded and protected by muscles and tissues that also help strengthen the body to carry out different kinds of tasks as the ones mentioned here. Therefore, by carrying more weight than we can, our muscles are prone to get torn or overstretched. When this occurs, the main symptoms include pain around the affected area and inflammation. Additionally, the more severe the tear is, the stronger symptoms like stiffness and weakness can be. If it is a more serious tear, it might be difficult to move this part of the body properly.

It would be a big issue for Santa to get a sprained muscle while on his mission to deliver presents. Let us hope his assistants are aware of these risks and give him a hand during this task. However, if he has already sprained a muscle. These are our recommendations:

• Icy hot treatment: these are products with a “cooling” and a slight “burning” effect which helps alleviate the pain temporarily.
• Applying ice to the affected area can help reduce inflammation.
• Take pain killers or anti-inflammatory medicine.
• Massage the area to improve blood flow. It is beneficial in repairing the affected muscles.  It has been proved that therapeutic massages help sprains heal more quickly.
• Eat food rich in proteins and vitamins like C, which help reduce inflammation and recover the muscle by producing collagen. it is necessary to rest and, in some cases, to immobilize the injured area. Therefore, having a good diet can help control your body weight during recovery (Santa, we are talking to you), fiber-rich foods will be beneficial. 

If you have a job like Santa’s, we recommend being careful with how much weight you lift. Perhaps, you do not have elves to come and help you, so make sure you make correct use of your working or exercising equipment to avoid injuring your muscles.

Orthopedic Corner | Leon Mead MD Orthopedic Doctor | 730 Goodlette Road North, Suite 201  Naples Florida 34102 | Phone: (239) 262-1119