Surely I’m not sitting incorrectly?!
Last week we talked about sitting too much and the detrimental effects this can have on our bodies.
The good news is that it doesn’t take much to make positive changes! There are ways you can help to prevent yourself from sitting down for too long and suffering from the effects of it.
Here are just a few of our top tips:
- Set yourself reminders to get up and move around every 30 minutes or so
- Stand and walk about whilst on the phone – don’t just sit there!
- Try standing instead of sitting whilst on the train or bus
- Perhaps use a standing desk intermittently throughout the day instead of just sitting throughout
- Move around during every coffee break, or even during the adverts of your favourite show (no more playback!)
If you find you really cannot avoid sitting for hours on end, then ensuring you sit correctly is crucial.
So if you can’t meet the above list, then these are the tips for you…
- Make sure you’re sitting up relatively straight with good lower back support, therefore supporting the natural curve in your lumbar spine
- Sit with your buttocks toward the back of your chair
- Ensure there are no keys, wallets, coins, etc. in your back pocket that may alter your alignment
- Don’t slouch, keep yourself upright with your arms resting on your chair at a 90-degree angle
- Sit as close to your desk as possible with the screen at eye level
- It may sound silly, but drink more water – this will leave you needing to relieve yourself more often, therefore forcing you up and moving about.
As long as you make the conscious decision to keep an eye on your posture and movement throughout the day, then this will really help to stave off the adverse effects of sitting for too long.
Remember, this isn’t workplace-only advice – you can’t keep your bad habits at home!
Little things such as sitting with your legs tucked in to the side, or sitting propped up in bed reading your kindle can place some serious stress on both your discs and ligaments. Now don’t lie to yourself, I bet you do this too – most of us do. But just think about what’s happening to your hips, pelvis and spine when you compress them in such a way every night for a few hours for years… yikes!
And it’s not just you.
It's vital to teach your children, especially teenagers, how to sit properly. School chairs aren't always great, but a great way to improvise is for them to use their coat or jumper and create a makeshift lumbar support. This will help to keep the spine supported and in a healthy position.
Try to prevent your child from bending their neck to the side whilst writing, as this will almost certainly set them up with problems in their facet joints in the future, due to the muscle tone in the neck being out of balance. Essentially, the side with shortened muscles will bring the joints closer together, making them more prone to a perpetually sore neck – this is easy to sort, but the long-term muscle imbalance will take longer to realign.
If you’re looking for an effective, non-invasive solution to your back pain, please feel free to contact us on 01722 512 043 for expert and friendly advice or book an appointment online by clicking the button below.