Effects of Sitting Combatted by Montreal Exercise and Not Sitting!
“Sitting. It’s the new smoking.” You’ve heard it. Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic sees the effects of sitting in our Montreal chiropractic practice in the form of back pain, neck pain and related issues. Let’s explore sitting and being sedentary workers and what we can do about it.
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) Glaring or not, it does highlight the issue that sitting a lot isn’t healthy for anyone. 25% of adults including Montreal chiropractic patients and adults sit more than 8 hours daily. Older adults are said to sit for even more time. (2) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic 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 tell us that low back pain sufferers’ activity levels are low. Of 300 patients, 32.5% live sedentary lives, 48.5% live underactive lifestyles, and 68.3% of them did not do any activity to enhance muscle strength or flexibility. (3) Continued sitting posed a risk for all-cause mortality independent of physical activity even if it’s of moderate to vigorous effort. The best suggestion is to decrease sitting time not just boost physical activity levels. (4) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic 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 visits to the gym isn’t able to really erase a lifetime of sitting. He also contended that fixing the sitting issue by standing has its own problems (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 plus 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 bothers. (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 proved more helpful 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 had segmental instability. (8) Respiration is a big deal! Another study showed that forced breathing exercise therapy effectively improved 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 is not everything for us sedentary folks, but exercise is a part of the solution.
CONTACT Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic
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 Montreal chiropractic appointment with Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic today. If “sitting is the new smoking” issue defines you and back pain complicates it, Montreal chiropractic care is for you…together with trying not to sit that much and exercising a bit more!
