Take a minute to think about how often you sit each day. Now ask yourself what portion of that time was in ideal posture? This is a simple way for you to determine if it could be leading to back problems.
It’s commonly accepted among experts that lower back pain is related to prolonged sitting. And let’s face it, in today’s world we spend plenty of time during our day doing exactly that—we sit in the car, we sit most of the day at work and we even sit to watch television after our workday is over.
It seems that the only time we’re not sitting is when we’re moving from one location to the next. Because this is how we’re living, it should come as no surprise that back pain can be a pretty common problem.
What is also troubling is how our next generation is spending more time sitting at such earlier age, due to the introduction of the tablets and other hand-held devices. This could be one of the many reasons that we see more and more adverse changes to the spinal curvature in the youth.
Poor postures and prolonged sitting are both contributing to the major musculoskeletal complaints seen in the young and old. It would not be unusual to predict that this would be on the rise due to the change of habits and increase in morbidity in our society.
Sitting is the New Smoking
While we’re not suggesting that you stop sitting, what you should do is take some simple steps to minimise the impact by making your environment more back friendly.
Here are a few suggestions:• Take interval breaks throughout your day
• Change your position as often as you sensibly can
• Get up and walk every 45 minutes
• Stretch your spine throughout the day
If you’re dealing with frequent back pain that seems to be sticking around, consider contacting our practice for an appointment.