“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You have surely
heard this claim. Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office sees the effects of sitting in our
Groton chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain
and associated issues. Let’s look at
sitting and being sedentary workers and what our options might be.
SITTING COMPARISON TO SMOKING
Is the sitting and smoking a little harsh?
Maybe. One medical report stated that 300 news articles allude
to this claim! (1) Harsh or not, it does draw attention to the concern that
sitting a lot is not healthy for anyone. 25% of adults including Groton
chiropractic patients and adults sit more than 8 hours a day.
Older adults supposedly sit even more.
(2) Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office knows 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 tell 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 boost muscle strength
or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting created a risk for
all-cause mortality unrelated to physical
activity even if it is of moderate to vigorous effort. The best
suggestion is to reduce the quantity of sitting
not just boost physical activity levels. (4) Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office encourages
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” suggestion as an
“inconvenient truth”: a few weekly trips to the fitness center
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 varicose
veins and foot pain. (5) So what then, especially
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 particularly 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 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 experienced
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 helps! It’s not
everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.
CONTACT Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office
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 Groton chiropractic appointment
with Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue defines
you and back pain makes matters worse, Groton
chiropractic care is for you…together with striving
to not sit that much and exercising a bit
more!