“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You’ve
heard this claim. Satterwhite Chiropractic sees the effects of sitting in our
Oxford 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 stated that 300 news articles allude
to this claim! (1) Harsh or not, it does draw attention to the issue that
sitting a lot is not healthy for anyone. 25% of adults Oxford
chiropractic patients and adults included sit more than 8 hours daily.
Older adults supposedly sit even more.
(2) Satterwhite Chiropractic realizes 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 document
that low back pain
sufferers’ activity levels are low. Of 300 patients, 32.5% live sedentary
lives, 48.5% live underactive lifestyles, and 68.3% of them did
not do any activity to enhance muscle strength
or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting created a risk for
all-cause mortality unrelated to physical
activity even if it’s of moderate to vigorous effort. The best
suggestion is to reduce sitting time
not just increase physical activity levels. (4) Satterwhite Chiropractic urges
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 contended that fixing the sitting issue by standing has its
own issues (beyond its being uncomfortable!) like foot pain and varicose veins. (5) So what then, especially
for low back pain sufferers? Dynamic strengthening exercises – those that concentrate
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 affects.
(6) More precisely, 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 was more effective and persisted
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 had
segmental instability. (8) Respiration is a big deal! Another study
showed that forced breathing exercise therapy effectively improved
trunk stability and daily living activities in chronic low back pain patients, particularly
for those with chronic lumbago in whom these exercises reduced
pain. (9) Exercise helps! It’s not
everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
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 Oxford chiropractic appointment
with Satterwhite Chiropractic today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue defines
you and back pain complicates it, Oxford
chiropractic care is for you…besides trying not to sit that much and exercising a bit
more!