Effects of Sitting Combatted by St Peters Exercise and Not Sitting!
“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You’ve heard this claim. Old Mill Chiropractic sees the effects of sitting in our St Peters chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain and associated issues. Let’s discuss sitting and being sedentary workers and what our options might be.
SITTING COMPARISON TO SMOKING
Is the sitting and smoking a little glaring? Maybe. One medical report uncovered that 300 news articles cite this claim! (1) Harsh or not, it does draw attention to the concern that sitting a lot is not healthy for anyone. 25% of adults including St Peters chiropractic patients and adults sit more than 8 hours a day. Older adults supposedly sit even more. (2) Old Mill Chiropractic knows we all sit. We’re not shaming you! We’re with you!
THE STATE OF NSCLBP in SEDENTARY WORKERS
Sitting is what we do. Researchers document that low back pain sufferers’ activity levels are low. Of 300 patients, 32.5% live sedentary lives, 48.5% had underactive lifestyles, and 68.3% of them didn’t do any activity to enhance muscle strength or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting posed a risk for all-cause mortality separate from physical activity even if it’s of moderate to vigorous effort. The best suggestion is to reduce sitting time not just increase physical activity levels. (4) Old Mill Chiropractic urges both, too!
WHAT CAN WE DO? EXERCISE (AND A BONUS: RESPIRATION IMPROVEMENT)
One author asserted the conundrum of the “exercise to buffer sitting’s effect” suggestion as an “inconvenient truth”: a few weekly trips to the gym isn’t able to really wipe away a lifetime of sitting. He also contended that fixing the sitting issue by standing has its own problems (beyond its being uncomfortable!) like varicose veins and foot pain. (5) So what then, especially for low back pain sufferers? Dynamic strengthening exercises – those that concentrate on core and global stabilization as well as endurance in stabilizing musculature – displayed better improvement in pain relief and better function particularly in the lumbar multifidus and transversus abdominus which are two muscles that low back pain affects. (6) More specifically, a 20-week lumbar stabilization exercise and muscle strengthening exercise program decreased low back pain and functional disability in sedentary workers. A lumbar stabilization exercise program was more effective and persisted for 12 weeks. (7) A bonus to lumbar segmental stabilization exercise is that it activated the deep muscles and enhanced respiratory function and pressure in chronic low back pain patient who experienced segmental instability. (8) Respiration is a big deal! Another study demonstrated that forced breathing exercise therapy effectively improved trunk stability and daily living activities in chronic low back pain patients, particularly for those with chronic lumbago in whom these exercises eased pain. (9) Exercise helps! It’s not everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.
CONTACT Old Mill Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Shawn Nelson on The Back Doctors Podcast about The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management’s role in back pain management to help a runner re-gain his stride despite his facet syndrome back pain condition that irritates us sitting folks.
Schedule you St Peters chiropractic appointment with Old Mill Chiropractic today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue describes you and back pain complicates it, St Peters chiropractic care is for you…in addition to trying not to sit that much and exercising a bit more!
