Why Sitting Is Killing You

You may have heard the saying, "Sitting is the new smoking!".

We all know too well the dangers of smoking on our health and well-being, but sitting?   Or I should say, incorrect sitting.  The modern chair might be designed for comfort and convenience, but it's reeking havoc on our posture, spines, necks and bodies.  More work days are lost because of low back pain than for any other reason.  With all the advances in modern society, what is going on here?

If you happen to travel to less developed nations, you may notice something a little different in the way people sit.  More often than not, they are squatting.  Around campfires, on porches, and even in public places people are designed to squat.  All the way down.  You should be able to sit in the bottom of a squat for a minimum of 30 minutes!  And you know what?  Low back pain and dysfunction is relatively rare in these places.

So what's causing all of the problems? 

First, by sitting in a modern style chair, your hamstrings (back of your legs) are contracted and shortened.  So are your abdominal muscles along with your hip flexors.  This causes the hips to be rotated which takes the natural curve out of the lower back.  When this happens, the disks become compressed and can lead to bulges and eventually a herniation.  The only way to fix a herniated disk is to have surgery.

But that's not all.

Working on computers while sitting has some more drawbacks.  The shoulders get protracted (rolled forward) which causes a shortening and tightening of the chest muscles.  The head sits forward causing the muscles in the front of your neck to shorten and the ones in the back of your neck to lengthen.  For every inch your head sits forward of center, you add 5 years to your neck!

The lengthened back muscles now must work extra hard to hold the body upright, causing pain and discomfort.

But there is hope.  Most people with these symptoms will eventually seek out a health care professional once the pain gets bad enough.  The problem is that a lot of these professionals will only attack the symptom and not the cause.  If you suffer from low back pain, sciatica, stiff neck or frozen shoulder, take caution if your provider only address these areas.  There might be more going on than localized pain.

Head over to YouTube (Massage Mace) for more videos on this and other health related topics.

And if you're in the Jacksonville, FL area please contact me for a FREE consultation.  I'd love to help.