Physical Healthcare of Jacksonville

Request Appointment

Tips to Combat Back Pain From Sitting For Too Long

Believe it or not,

There’s a direct correlation between people who experience lower back pain while sitting and other illnesses.

And lower back pain isn’t just limited to a certain age group.

Here’s research that will direct you to read the rest of the blog: 54% of Americans experiencing lower back pain spend most of their workday sitting!

To establish the above fact more firmly, The University of Waterloo came up with a new statistic which stated: 40% of people without back problems developed lower back pain as soon as their regular timetables altered and they started to stand for two hours.

There are numerous careers that require to sit and work. Whether you are a truck driver, taxi driver, office worker or a teacher, you will find yourself sitting for the most of the day.

Work is not the only place you sit. Let’s jump to the weekends. Do you remember being on the couch and passing time watching TV, scrolling through Instagram, or maybe reading a book? You were certainly sitting!

Feeling scared already? Here’s a fact for you!

Do you know?

In a study, London bus drivers were found to be twice as likely to suffer from heart attacks compared to the conductors on the same buses.

There are proven and effective treatments like regenerative stem cell therapy, but a person must also know that his/her bad habits during their daily routine are not combating the positive effects of the therapy.

However, one important thing to note is that sitting is not always bad, but extended periods of sitting is. Thinking of quitting your job? Wait, here are the tips that you have been waiting for!

Stand up at work!

  • This might be a bad idea when you are a driver, but you certainly can stand in a safer environment.
  • Instead of being seated the whole day in front of your computer, try to stand and work!
  • You can also ask your company for flexible desks that allow you to do a little of both, sitting and standing throughout the day.
  • Do not stand all day! Start with 3 hours and gradually built it up.

Why this tip?
Because “stand” is the opposite of “sit”! Moreover, standing can improve posture and increase metabolism and calorie burning.

Keep moving at work regularly!

Stop right there! This doesn’t mean “fidget unnecessarily while you work”. If the pain is unbearable, then seek regenerative stem cell therapy now!

Is standing and working not enough? No, because you still are looking at the desktop and probably are even hunched over.

  • Set an alarm for every hour. When it goes off, walk around for 5 minutes.
  • Repeat all day till it’s time to go home.
  • Climb the stairs at your office as it pumps up your heart and most importantly you aren’t sitting while doing this! Moreover, a two-minute break at work can improve your concentration and focus and impress your boss!
  • If you are in a driving job, you can easily stop at regular intervals and hop out of the vehicle.

Like to sit and work?

Okay, we luckily have some help for you too!

  • Posture is important. Little things that we do every day can affect our posture.
  • Most of the negative effects happen when we are on our computers – with which you might relate. Following the below tips can help you in your lower back pain and help you get healthy overall.

Do you know?
Proper office ergonomics has been found to elevate productivity by an average of 11%!

1. Keep the back at 90 degrees

  • If you slouch while sitting, then you are just giving air to your lower back pain.
  • Keep your back at a 90-degree angle all the time.
  • Adjusting the chair 10 degrees can help maintain posture and this will be beneficial for your upper back as well as the lower back.

2. Heads up

  • This tip will require more work from you.
  • Keep your head and neck inline right above the shoulders.
  • Keep the head straight and the subject of focus in a central position.

3. Keep all the essentials within reach

  • Limit the number of times that you have to overreach throughout the day. This increases the chances of slouching constantly for a long period.
  • Pull the mouse and keyboard closer.
  • You will now sit straighter and go on a journey to bid farewell to your lower back pain.

4. Adjust Your Chair

A proper office chair has levers under the armrests or the seat.

It’s important to know how to use these levers to optimize your comfort on the chair.

Don’t worry as we aren’t going to ask you to get into an engineering school. Rather we will help you out with ready made tips to manage those levers.

  1. Sit on the chair and push your hips back as far as they can go.
  2. Adjust the chair such that the upper arms are in line with your torso.
  3. See that the forearms become perpendicular to the upper arm and in line with the table. Keep the hands in line with the forearm too.
  4. Also, adjust the height of the chair to keep your knees horizontal to the floor.

Want to know some tips for standing too? Here you go!

1. Keep your head up while standing. Shoulders must be straight, chest forward, and hips tucked in. Keeping the weight balanced evenly on both feet is necessary as standing in an imbalanced way can cause harm to your posture.

2. Standing in the same position for a long period is also not suggested.

3. See if there is anyway that you can get your work table to a comfortable level.

4. While standing, rest a foot on a stool or a box to elevate it. Switch the foot position at regular intervals.

Exercise – It can help you remain fit

An hour of exercise for a day can combat the effect of eight hours of sitting!

Chances are that the last line took much weight off the hearts of all of you who exercise daily. The ones who don’t do it – we have a tip for you too. START EXERCISING!!!

You can start by walking daily. Set a time and commit to walking every day at that time. You can even consider walking to work instead of driving daily. You will get some exercise and can save some money too!

Now that you’ve reached so far in the blog, you certainly deserve more.
Here are some bonus tips to help you defeat the lower back pain you feel while sitting.

Do you know what’s the best way to approach the road of beating the negative effects of sitting all day?
Don’t sit!

Unfortunately, this sounds easy but may not be possible for you. However, the below tips can help:

  1. If you are someone who has to take a lot of meetings in a day, then you can just walk and conduct it. Walking is better than simply standing as it helps you with your lower back pain and you can make the meeting more interactive. Likewise, if you are a teacher, then walking and teaching at the school can even help you keep an eye on every student present in the class.
  2. Dance more often. Don’t worry if you don’t know the techniques to dance. Here’s a quote by Martha Graham to motivate you: Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.
    So dance whenever you get some private space.
  3. Walk to a colleague’s desk to discuss a work issue. This way you may even get a new friend to walk around with (Now you both can kill or avoid lower back pain together)!
  4. Stand up to drink water every hour.

Back pain is the fifth most common healthcare issue in America.

You can follow all the above tips and make them a part of your daily routine.

Eating good food and exercising regularly are no doubt good habits and can improve your health but if your back pain gets chronic and out of control, then waste no time.

The practitioners at Physical Healthcare of Jacksonville work with a holistic approach. The medical team truly cares about each patient. The team is the best medical team to trust your physical health care with! They’ve helped a lot of families enhance their quality of life.

Regenerative stem cell therapy is a highly effective therapy involving stem cells being injected into an injured area. Try stem cell treatments from our experts. Connect with us now!