Low Back Pain Cause – Prolonged Sitting

How many hours do you waste away sitting in a chair and not even thinking of the possibilities of back injury?  This is serious.  Sitting down puts more pressure on the back than compared to standing up.  Many of my clients sit in a chair from 8-20 hours a day and this can cause a lot of compression on the spine.  Two things happen when you sit down for long periods at a time: 1. Sitting down for long periods while working on your computer, playing poker, slouched down watching TV can cause the spinal discs to cram; 2. Your hips also have a hard time to expand and move in this position causing inflexibility in the hips.  Less range of motion in the hips causes more stress on the lower back.  This dangerous combination can be the cause for back injuries and bad posture.

Which posture do you have?

You all have seen the person with a posture on the below right or you ARE that person!  A little secret – your back will not get any better if you continue to do the same thing you are doing now.

To reduce the experience of feeling pain in your back, here are a few tips that can relieve the pressure.

1. Stand up and walk around.

2. Do a forward bend and stretch out the hips and hamstrings.

3. Cross one leg over the other while sitting down and do a forward bend.  This opens up the hips and stretches out the low back.

4. Strengthen your abdominal muscles and back muscles to help keep your posture straight.

5. Use a yoga ball to sit on instead of a standard chair – it helps with mobility in the low back.

6. Do a back bend or wheel pose.  Great ways to strengthen your back and counteracts the effects of bending forward at the desk all day.

5. Take yoga.  It helps tremendously with strengthening your back, abdominal muscles, and opens up the hip flexors.

7. Get massages but choose a massage therapist who understands back pain so you can get the most for what you pay for.  There are so many massage therapists out there who do not know what they are doing.  Let your massage therapist know how your back hurts, since pain can be in various places on your back, and ask them what you can do.

If you’re serious about your health and want to prevent back soreness and injuries, get proactive about stretching your hips and back and be active when you are not sitting. 

A little work can go a long way.