Tips to avoid getting hurt w/ last-minute shopping

Over the next few days, many of us will be running out to pick up a quick gift, or maybe you've saved that 'big ticket' item for last.

Whatever your shopping dilemma, be sure to be careful. Dr. Kim Gladden is an orthopedic expert at Cleveland Clinic.

She says heavy items should be lifted with the legs, not the back.

"You don't want to be rotating and lifting and frequently when we're putting a big heavy thing in a car we're going to turn, put it in, turn put it in. Instead, face it, get it close to the body, use the legs to lift and put it in the car and you're much less likely to injure the back if you're lifting something fairly heavy.”  

And she says if you'll be carrying lots of heavy bags, don't do what Santa does by hauling them over one shoulder.

Carrying everything on one side could lead to a shoulder injury.