“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You’ve
heard this claim. Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka sees the effects of sitting in our
Sitka chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain
and associated issues. Let us 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 found that 300 news articles allude
to this claim! (1) Glaring or not, it does draw attention to the concern that
sitting a lot isn’t healthy for anyone. 25% of adults Sitka
chiropractic patients and adults included sit more than 8 hours daily.
Older adults are said to sit for even more time.
(2) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka 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% 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 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 reduce sitting time
not just increase physical activity levels. (4) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka supports
both, too!
WHAT CAN WE DO? EXERCISE (AND A BONUS: RESPIRATION
IMPROVEMENT)
One author asserted the conundrum
of the “exercise to buffer sitting’s effect” implication as an
“inconvenient truth”: a few weekly trips to the gym
isn’t able to really wipe away a lifetime of sitting. He
also shared that fixing the sitting issue by standing has its
own problems (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 plus 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 affects.
(6) More precisely, a 20-week lumbar stabilization exercise
and muscle strengthening exercise program decreased low back pain
and functional disability in sedentary workers. A lumbar stabilization exercise
program was more effective and lasted
for 12 weeks. (7) An advantage to lumbar segmental stabilization
exercise is that it activated the deep muscles and boosted
respiratory function and pressure in chronic low back pain patient who experienced
segmental instability. (8) Respiration is a big deal! 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 works! It’s not
everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.
CONTACT Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka
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 Sitka chiropractic appointment
with Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue describes
you and back pain complicates it, Sitka
chiropractic care is for you…together with striving
to not sit so much and exercising a little
more!