Sitting all day causes stress, pain

“I’M NOT sure how I got this sore, work isn’t very physical, all I really do is sit all day.” Have you ever known someone to say that? As a chiropractor, it’s something I hear surprisingly frequently. It seems many don’t realise the impact of a sustained posture, particularly sitting, on their health.

Sustained periods of sitting, especially with poor posture, can place excessive stress on your pelvis, low back, upper back, neck and shoulders. For a patient with pain in these areas, one of my first questions is about how much time they spend sitting.

It’s often easy in a busy environment to spend hours at a time sitting and typing on a computer. Just as guilty, however, are truck drivers and machinery operators who are also charged with hours on end of sitting, but with the additional jolting around caused by poor roads and bumpy ground.

What can that mean? Pain is the most obvious answer, but also tension in muscles and joints, stiffness, and inflammation.

If you’re the sort of person who spends a lot of time sitting, I’d recommend you take some time to get the areas I mentioned earlier checked out. Also, ensure you keep some movement in your day to counteract the effects of sitting.

Your local chiropractor is trained in addressing areas of stress, particularly those in the spine, whether or not they are causing pain yet.