Effects of Sitting Combatted by Augusta Exercise and Not Sitting!
“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You have surely heard it. Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic sees the effects of sitting in our Augusta chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain and associated issues. Let’s explore 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 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 Augusta chiropractic patients and adults included sit more than 8 hours daily. Older adults are said to sit for even more time. (2) Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic realizes we all sit. We are not shaming you! We’re with you!
THE STATE OF NSCLBP in SEDENTARY WORKERS
Sitting is what we do. Researchers document 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 did not do any activity to enhance muscle strength or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting created 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 boost physical activity levels. (4) Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic supports 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 fitness center isn’t able to really erase 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 focus 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 two 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 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 enhanced 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 isn’t everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a piece of the puzzle.
CONTACT Lombardy Chiropractic 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 Augusta chiropractic appointment with Lombardy Chiropractic Clinic today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue describes you and back pain makes matters worse, Augusta chiropractic care is for you…in addition to trying not to sit so much and exercising a little more!
