If You Sit All Day You’re Due For A Chiropractic Appointment
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It’s hard to avoid sitting down when our lives revolve around it, whether it be commuting to work, typing in front of a desk, watching television on the couch, or sitting down to eat a meal. Sitting for extended periods of time can put unnecessary strain on your back. Fortunately, there are simple ways you can prevent this, but first let’s take a closer look at what sitting for extended periods of time does to your body.
The Effects of Sitting For Prolonged Periods of Time
If your job demands it, it’s hard to avoid sitting. You’re putting double the stress on your spine than you would if you were standing. If you sit for hours on end, your posture will inevitably change. You may begin leaning forward closer to your computer screen which can alter the natural curve of your spine. Here’s how:
Shortened Hip Flexors
Tight hip flexors can contribute to lower back pain. How? When you don’t stretch your hip flexors, the position of your pelvis changes, which affects the position of your lower back. Those tightened flexors will prevent you from stretching to your full range of motion and make you not look as tall.
Forward-Tilting Pelvis
When you sit for extended periods of time, we tend to slump our backs because of the stress on the spine and the strained lower back muscles. We adjust so that our pelvis tilts forward to support all of our weight, essentially weakening the muscles around it.
Unbalanced Hips
Sitting, and even crossing legs, affects our ability to balance our lower body. When we have trouble balancing the lower body, we may feel unable to do things we normally could do with ease.
Chronic Neck and Shoulder Pain
Do you find yourself leaning forward into the computer screen when you’re working? It’s not because you’re trying to look closer, it’s because your abdomen and entire core are having trouble supporting you which leads to stress on your neck and shoulders. Over time, the pain can get worse.
How to Reverse the Effects of Sitting All Day
Luckily, there are ways to reverse the damage of too much sitting. If you can’t help but sit for your work or any other task, you can still do things to counter the negative effects. Give these ideas a try:
- Use a standing desk; take phone calls standing up
- Cardio helps to strengthen your weakened muscles; take the stairs instead of the elevator
- Take frequent but short breaks where you are standing up
- Move around (anything is better than nothing) for at least 10 minutes every hour
Finally, you can visit your local Prosser Chiropractor to relieve tension and pain in a non-invasive and painless way. In just a few minutes you can instantly improve your posture. Chiropractors are knowledgeable in spine adjustments to counter the effects of sitting. Chiropractors also have a wealth of knowledge that can help you incorporate other healthy lifestyle habits and stretches to improve your posture at work and at home.
