Effects of Sitting Combatted by La Grande Exercise and Not Sitting!
“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You have surely heard this claim. Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC sees the effects of sitting in our La Grande chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain and associated issues. Let’s discuss sitting and being sedentary workers and what our options might be.
SITTING COMPARISON TO SMOKING
Is the sitting and smoking a little glaring? Maybe. One medical report found that 300 news articles allude to this claim! (1) Harsh or not, it does highlight the issue that sitting a lot is not healthy for anyone. 25% of adults including La Grande chiropractic patients and adults sit more than 8 hours daily. Older adults supposedly sit for even more time. (2) Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC knows we all sit. We’re not shaming you! We’re 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 didn’t do any activity to enhance muscle strength or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting presented a risk for all-cause mortality unrelated to physical activity even if it is of moderate to vigorous effort. The best suggestion is to decrease the quantity of sitting not just increase physical activity levels. (4) Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC 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” suggestion as an “inconvenient truth”: a few weekly trips to the gym can’t really wipe away a lifetime of sitting. He also shared that fixing the sitting issue by standing has its own issues (beyond its being uncomfortable!) like foot pain and varicose veins. (5) So what then, particularly for low back pain sufferers? Dynamic strengthening exercises – those that concentrate on core and global stabilization as well as endurance in stabilizing musculature – showed better improvement in pain relief and better function particularly in the lumbar multifidus and transversus abdominus which are two muscles that low back pain affects. (6) More specifically, 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) 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 reduced pain. (9) Exercise helps! It’s not everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a piece of the puzzle.
CONTACT Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
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 bothers us sitting folks.
Schedule you La Grande chiropractic appointment with Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue defines you and back pain makes matters worse, La Grande chiropractic care is for you…in addition to striving to not sit so much and exercising a little more!
