“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You have surely
heard this claim. Cross Chiropractic Center sees the effects of sitting in our
Sandy Springs chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain
and associated issues. Let’s consider
sitting and being sedentary workers and what we can do
about it.
SITTING COMPARISON TO SMOKING
Is the sitting and smoking a little harsh?
Maybe. One medical report stated that 300 news articles allude
to this claim! (1) Glaring or not, it does call attention to the concern that
sitting a lot is not healthy for anyone. 25% of adults including Sandy Springs
chiropractic patients and adults sit more than 8 hours a day.
Older adults supposedly sit for even more time.
(2) Cross Chiropractic Center knows we all sit. We are not
shaming you! We’re with you!
THE STATE OF NSCLBP in SEDENTARY WORKERS
Sitting is what we do. Researchers tell us
that low back pain
sufferers’ activity levels are low. Of 300 patients, 32.5% lead sedentary
lives, 48.5% had underactive lifestyles, and 68.3% of them didn’t do any activity to increase muscle strength
or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting created a risk for
all-cause mortality independent of physical
activity even if it is of moderate to vigorous effort. The best
suggestion is to reduce the quantity of sitting
not just increase physical activity levels. (4) Cross Chiropractic Center supports
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” implication as an
“inconvenient truth”: a few weekly trips to the gym
can’t 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 foot pain and varicose veins. (5) So what then, especially
for low back pain sufferers? Dynamic strengthening exercises – those that concentrate
on core and global stabilization plus endurance in stabilizing
musculature – showed better improvement in pain relief and better
function particularly in the lumbar multifidus and transversus
abdominus which are 2 muscles that low back pain affects.
(6) More precisely, 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 helpful and persisted
for 12 weeks. (7) An advantage 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 had
segmental instability. (8) Respiration is important! Another study
showed that forced breathing exercise therapy effectively improved
trunk stability and daily living activities in chronic low back pain patients, especially
for those with chronic lumbago in whom these exercises decreased
pain. (9) Exercise helps! It’s not
everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a piece
of the puzzle.
CONTACT Cross Chiropractic Center
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 bothers us sitting folks.
Schedule you Sandy Springs chiropractic appointment
with Cross Chiropractic Center today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue defines
you and back pain makes matters worse, Sandy Springs
chiropractic care is for you…besides trying not to sit that much and exercising a bit
more!