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Effects of Sitting Combatted by Burlington and Hamilton Exercise and Not Sitting!

“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You have surely heard it. Spinal Care Clinic sees the effects of sitting in our Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain and associated issues. Let’s explore 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 uncovered that 300 news articles cite this claim! (1) Glaring or not, it does highlight the concern that sitting a lot isn’t healthy for anyone. 25% of adults including Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic patients and adults sit more than 8 hours a day. Older adults supposedly sit for even more time. (2) Spinal Care Clinic 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 report to us that the activity level of low back pain suffers is 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 enhance muscle strength or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting presented a risk for all-cause mortality separate from physical activity even if it is of moderate to vigorous effort. The best suggestion is to decrease the quantity of sitting not just increase physical activity levels. (4) Spinal Care Clinic urges both, too!

WHAT CAN WE DO? EXERCISE (AND A BONUS: RESPIRATION IMPROVEMENT)

One author asserted 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 issues (beyond its being uncomfortable!) like varicose veins and foot pain. (5) So what then, particularly for low back pain sufferers? Dynamic strengthening exercises – those that focus on core and global stabilization as well as endurance in stabilizing musculature – showed 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 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 lasted for 12 weeks. (7) An advantage 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 demonstrated 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 is not everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.

CONTACT Spinal Care Clinic

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 Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic appointment with Spinal Care Clinic today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue describes you and back pain makes matters worse, Burlington and Hamilton chiropractic care is for you…in addition to striving to not sit that much and exercising a bit more!

 
Spinal Care Clinic urges less sitting and more exercising to combat back pain and other pain issues. 
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"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."