How often do you sit down and stand up in pain? Do you need to stretch and walk around before your back frees up and you can continue with your day?
“Studies show that over 54% of people experiencing back pain spend most of their day sitting.”
From my experience, sitting and sleeping technique create more unresolved back pain in people than any other lifestyle action. When sitting down at your desk, there are so many things that can be addressed that can aggravate your back pain. Let’s face it, it’s believed paleolithic humans would travel more than 10km per day just to eat!
Sitting on our bottom for prolonged periods really is a massive problem and, believe it or not, could just be the cause of all of yours as well!
When we put pressure directly on our ischial tuberosities (sit bones) for a long period of time this we load our SI joints due to upward pressure through the sit bones.
Since the Sacroiliac joints are direct extensions of our sit bones if when sit, stress in generated right through the joints as well!
In the long run, just like sitting at our desks all day, this can lead to fatigue in the muscles that support these joints leading to further complications again!
I love seeing these issues, because we usually see them in people that have had chronic pain and they are usually sorted so easily and quickly that it just makes it so much fun to come to work!
In fact, fixing the problem is not going to cost a fortune or be some extravagant desk set up that looks like something from Star Wars.
It truly is such a simple technique that I’m sometimes embarrassed when people come in after years of pain, cheering at the top of their lungs about how good they feel and I’ve really got them to make the slightest of slightest adjustments in their life.
It sounds impossible, I know!
But removing pressure off the ischial tuberosities really does significantly reduce the amount of pressure that goes to the lower back.
So, the big how…
Like I mentioned before, sitting correctly doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune on some gimmicky desk or chair. Simply understanding the anatomy of how our pelvis works is all you need to know. In fact, you don’t even need to know that, you just need to know how to sit.
Here’s my top 3 ways that we can help reduce stress on your back when sitting:
- Disperse more of your load across your hamstrings – Move your body weight forward and take the load on your legs. Sit all the way back into the chair, allow your hamstrings and sit bones to be on the seat. This takes a whole chunk of weight off your pelvis
- Tilt the base of your chair forward – Drop the front of it 2-4cm lower than the back. This will force you to put your feet on the ground and load them creating muscular contraction in your back. The result of this is better pelvic position and more stable spine.
- Place a towel on your chair – I know, this one sounds weird. But you’ll be amazed how many times I see people sitting on couches and chairs that have no support. If you fold a towel up and place it on your chair AND if you feel more supported, there’s a good chance it’s time is up. The foam has probably done its time.
Back pain is a complicated mine field and you don’t need to be alone to navigate it. If you need some help click the message button or give us a call on 9318 7758 and we’ll help you out. You don’t need to face this alone, we’re here to help.
