Effects of Sitting Combatted by Elgin Exercise and Not Sitting!
“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You’ve heard this claim. Connected Chiropractic sees the effects of sitting in our Elgin chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain and related issues. Let’s explore 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 stated that 300 news articles mention this claim! (1) Harsh or not, it does highlight the concern that sitting a lot isn’t healthy for anyone. 25% of adults Elgin chiropractic patients and adults included sit more than 8 hours a day. Older adults supposedly sit even more. (2) Connected Chiropractic realizes 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 report to us that the activity level of low back pain suffers is 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 unrelated to physical activity even if it’s of moderate to vigorous effort. The best suggestion is to decrease sitting time not just increase physical activity levels. (4) Connected Chiropractic encourages both, too!
WHAT CAN WE DO? EXERCISE (AND A BONUS: RESPIRATION IMPROVEMENT)
One author opined the challenge of the “exercise to buffer sitting’s effect” suggestion as an “inconvenient truth”: a few weekly visits to the fitness center 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 varicose veins and foot pain. (5) So what then, particularly for low back pain sufferers? Dynamic strengthening exercises – those that focus on core and global stabilization plus endurance in stabilizing musculature – showed better improvement in pain relief and better function especially in the lumbar multifidus and transversus abdominus which are two muscles that low back pain bothers. (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 proved more effective and lasted for 12 weeks. (7) An advantage to lumbar segmental stabilization exercise is that it activated the deep muscles and boosted respiratory function and pressure in chronic low back pain patient who had 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 decreased pain. (9) Exercise works! It isn’t everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.
CONTACT Connected 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 bothers us sitting folks.
Schedule you Elgin chiropractic appointment with Connected Chiropractic today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue defines you and back pain complicates it, Elgin chiropractic care is for you…in addition to trying not to sit that much and exercising a bit more!
