Effects of Sitting Combatted by Auburn Exercise and Not Sitting!
“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You have surely heard it. Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. sees the effects of sitting in our Auburn chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain and associated issues. Let’s consider sitting and being sedentary workers and what we can do about it.
SITTING COMPARISON TO SMOKING
Is the sitting and smoking a little harsh? Maybe. One medical report uncovered 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 Auburn chiropractic patients and adults sit more than 8 hours daily. Older adults are said to sit even more. (2) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. realizes we all sit. We’re not shaming you! We are 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% lead 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 independent of physical activity even if it’s of moderate to vigorous effort. The best suggestion is to decrease the quantity of sitting not just increase physical activity levels. (4) Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. supports both, too!
WHAT CAN WE DO? EXERCISE (AND A BONUS: RESPIRATION IMPROVEMENT)
One author opined the conundrum of the “exercise to buffer sitting’s effect” implication as an “inconvenient truth”: a few weekly visits to the fitness center isn’t able to 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 2 muscles that low back pain bothers. (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 helpful 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 important! Another study showed that forced breathing exercise therapy effectively improved trunk stability and daily living activities in chronic low back pain patients, especially for those with chronic lumbago in whom these exercises eased pain. (9) Exercise works! It is not everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.
CONTACT Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C.
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 Auburn chiropractic appointment with Dr. Le's Chiropractic & Wellness, L.L.C. today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue describes you and back pain makes matters worse, Auburn chiropractic care is for you…together with trying not to sit that much and exercising a bit more!
