“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You’ve
heard this claim. Vancouver Disc Centers sees the effects of sitting in our
Vancouver chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain
and related issues. Let’s discuss
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 found that 300 news articles mention this claim! (1) Harsh or not, it does call attention to the concern that
sitting a lot is not healthy for anyone. 25% of adults Vancouver
chiropractic patients and adults included sit more than 8 hours a day.
Older adults supposedly sit for even more time.
(2) Vancouver Disc Centers knows we all sit. We are not
shaming you! We are with you!
THE STATE OF NSCLBP in SEDENTARY WORKERS
Sitting is what we do. Researchers tell us
that low back pain
sufferers’ activity levels are low. Of 300 patients, 32.5% lead sedentary
lives, 48.5% live underactive lifestyles, and 68.3% of them didn’t do any activity to boost muscle strength
or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting presented a risk for
all-cause mortality independent of physical
activity even if it is of moderate to vigorous effort. The best
suggestion is to decrease sitting time
not just boost physical activity levels. (4) Vancouver Disc Centers 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 gym
can’t really wipe away a lifetime of sitting. He
also shared that fixing the sitting issue by standing has its
own problems (beyond its being uncomfortable!) like foot pain and varicose veins. (5) So what then, particularly
for low back pain sufferers? Dynamic strengthening exercises – those that concentrate
on core and global stabilization as well as endurance in stabilizing
musculature – displayed better improvement in pain relief and better
function especially in the lumbar multifidus and transversus
abdominus which are 2 muscles that low back pain bothers.
(6) More specifically, a 20-week lumbar stabilization exercise
and muscle strengthening exercise program reduced low back pain
and functional disability in sedentary workers. A lumbar stabilization exercise
program proved more helpful and lasted
for 12 weeks. (7) A bonus 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 experienced
segmental instability. (8) Respiration is a big deal! Another study
showed 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 eased
pain. (9) Exercise works! It’s not
everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
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 irritates us sitting folks.
Schedule you Vancouver chiropractic appointment
with Vancouver Disc Centers today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue defines
you and back pain complicates it, Vancouver
chiropractic care is for you…besides striving
to not sit so much and exercising a little
more!