Back to School - Healthy Sitting
Monday, September 10, 2007
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
The mind can only absorb what the tushy can endure. Better sitting can make better work along with better health. If your back or neck hurt from sitting, here is how to change it.
You don't need special or ergonomic chairs, keyboards, or desks.
You can sit well on a bucket. You can sit poorly and have pain
from an expensive posture chair. Many people do.
Myths of how to sit "right" involve strange rules - to keep thighs parallel to the floor, for example,
or feet at certain angles, or hips at 90 degree angles to the body.
None of these are necessary.
The photo of sitting, at right, shows sitting poorly. No mystery. The spine is rounding forward. Body weight presses on the lower back discs. The upper back is overstretched. The head is held at an angle that pulls on the muscles at the top of the shoulder. The post Don't Fall for "Don't Sit Up Straight" explained about a research study that found there is less pressure while leaning back against a seat, than when sitting vertically. That does not mean not to "sit straight" as the headlines said. With or without a seat back, sitting straight is still healthier than rounding.
The HealthLine team sent the photo (left) of one example of healthy straight sitting,and a parody of exaggerated, strained, rigidly straight sitting, (right).
Anyone trying it would soon find that sitting straight like that is not worth the strain, with good reason.
To try better sitting now:
- Move your backside right against the chair back.
- Move your chair in closer to the desk.
- Lean your upper back against the seat back, not your lower back. Do not press or round against the lower back.
- Chin in loosely, not jutting or tilting forward over the desk.
What is a good way to remember to sit without rounding forward? Watch other people sitting, driving, at the desk, and when exercising and stretching. Their bad positioning will remind you not to do that to your own spine.
Many chairs, even expensive ergonomic "back posture" chairs advertised to have built in lumbar support, are built in a way that makes you round forward when you sit against the seat back. The next post on sitting will cover fixing a bad chair.
The body needs movement for health. Get up from the chair often to straighten and move. The post Exercise and Stretch for Long Travel Sitting will get you started. When sitting, use your brain and your muscles to get free, natural, upper back use by not slumping. Make the idea of good sitting about understanding healthy body use and positioning instead of memorization without comprehension. Make healthy body use enjoyable and interesting. This is the kind of learning that is in the best spirit of "Back to School."
Good sitting should not cause pain.
More Fitness Fixer for healthy Back-to-School:
- Carrying Schoolbooks Is Not the Cause of Back Pain
- Prevent Neck Pain and Get Upper Back Exercise Carrying Backpacks
- Healthier Backpack Carrying to Get Better Exercise and Stop Back Pain
---
Read inspiring success stories of these methods and send your own. Before asking questions, see if your answers are already here by clicking labels under posts, links in posts, archives at right, and The Fitness Fixer Index. For answers to personal medical questions - Replies to Medical Questions.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail" (under trumpet) upper right.
Limited Class spaces for personal feedback. Top students may apply for certification through DrBookspan.com/Academy. Learn more in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
Subscribe to The Fitness Fixer, free. Click "updates via e-mail" (under trumpet) upper right.
Limited Class spaces for personal feedback. Top students may apply for certification through DrBookspan.com/Academy. Learn more in Dr. Bookspan's Books.
---
Photo 1 by Terry Bain
Desk photos 2 and 3 by Healthline staff
Desk photos 2 and 3 by Healthline staff
Labels: children, fix pain, lower back, posture, sitting, upper back
2 Comments:
At Tuesday, September 11, 2007 11:58:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Dr Bookspan,
A couple months ago I injured my L5/S1 disc (extruded w/ free fragment). I've done some research and found your books which I've been reading. One thing I notice is most back problem litearature talks about "bulging discs" but I don't have that - Mine actually tore and the NP came out. I use to be active and there are a couple things I'm not sure if I'll be able to do again (scuba, backpacking). I read the scuba doc article on discs so now I realize there could be risks due to pressure changes, and also just carrying a heavy tank. When I say backpacking I mean short trips, but also 240 mile trips over 3 weeks. So I'm really wondering what my limitations will be now.
Anyway, my comment was on the "dont sit up straight article." I hadn't seen that one. I did some investigation (search for "rsna 135" in google) and found the abstract of the original report. One thing I question is the actual position for the "135" measurement. In their abstract, they mention "the patient reclines backward 135 degrees." However, their abstract also has images. In figure 3, they show "The 135 degree trunk-thigh angle sitting position." In this figure, the person is not reclining. She is sitting upright, with the seat pan angled downward at 135 degrees. How different is reclining from sitting upright with both positions having 135 degree angle of trunk to thighs? One problem I see with reclining is the angle of the neck. Sure the lumbar might have less pressure, but you have to crane your neck. I have seen chairs with an angled seat pan (but upright lumbar) so that might be a better alternative to reclining.
Dan
At Friday, September 14, 2007 3:35:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Dan, sorry about your injury, let's get it healed quickly.
As in my post, "Don't fall for" that study. As in the post, I do not favor rigid sitting angles, 135 degrees, or otherwise, and you do not need any rules about thigh angles. The angled seat pan misses the point. The direct vertical loading remains. Next, leaning back slightly should not lead to crane your neck forward. Making new problems is not health care. Move your chair in (need eyes checked if you can't see?). The idea is not to put unhealthful rounding forces on the spine. Check sitting habits for exercise too - Sitting Badly Isn't Magically Healthy by Calling It a Hamstring Stretch.
Bulging or herniated discs, and extruded discs are different amounts of the same mechanical phenomenon that pushes disc materials out toward the back of the vertebrae. They bulge before they finally give out and tear. There are two articles about discs on Scuba-Doc.com. The one you refer to, I did not write. That one that briefly mentions your concern of "risks due to pressure changes" saying, "There have been no studies to prove or disprove these cautionaries, however." My article on Scuba-Doc, "Bad Discs, Sciatica and Diving" explains that discs can heal, and how to let them. Unlike people who debate whether you should dive with an injured disc, I say, heal it up quickly and dive healthy. Check daily movement - The Cause of Disc and Back Pain. Use Leg Exercise That Helps Your Back - Why The Lunge? to change bad bending. Use everything in the Fitness Fixer blog, my scuba-doc articles, and my books to heal the injury you have, and prevent injuring the next disc from the same habits that injured the first one.
Everything should work right away. If not, check how you are doing it. Most important is to understand what is healthful motion so you can move in natural healthful ways, not just "do exercises" or sit in rigid angles that don't matter or which make new problems.
Post a Comment
<< Home