“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You’ve
heard this claim. Back And Neck Care Center sees the effects of sitting in our
Severna Park chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain
and associated issues. Let us look at
sitting and being sedentary workers and what we can do
about it.
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) Glaring or not, it does call attention to the issue that
sitting a lot is not healthy for anyone. 25% of adults including Severna Park
chiropractic patients and adults sit more than 8 hours a day.
Older adults supposedly sit for even more time.
(2) Back And Neck Care 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 report to us
that low back pain
sufferers’ activity levels are low. Of 300 patients, 32.5% live sedentary
lives, 48.5% had underactive lifestyles, and 68.3% of them did
not do any activity to enhance muscle strength
or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting presented 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 boost physical activity levels. (4) Back And Neck Care Center encourages
both, too!
WHAT CAN WE DO? EXERCISE (AND A BONUS: RESPIRATION
IMPROVEMENT)
One author asserted the challenge
of the “exercise to buffer sitting’s effect” implication as an
“inconvenient truth”: a few weekly trips to the gym
can’t really erase 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 – displayed better improvement in pain relief and better
function particularly in the lumbar multifidus and transversus
abdominus which are two muscles that low back pain bothers.
(6) More specifically, 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 enhanced
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 enhanced
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’s not
everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a piece
of the puzzle.
CONTACT Back And Neck Care 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 Severna Park chiropractic appointment
with Back And Neck Care Center today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue describes
you and back pain complicates it, Severna Park
chiropractic care is for you…besides striving
to not sit so much and exercising a bit
more!