Do you struggle sitting at home with low back pain, neck pain,
mid back pain, maybe have sciatica, or you have an L4 L5 disc bulge?
Does sitting at your desk cause you problems?
"Providing you with pain,
relief strategies and wellness solutions for modern day living." The problem
is there is no perfect sitting posture. In this video,
I'm going to give you some tips on how to use your desk chair properly,
but as well,
how to minimize stresses through our neck mid-back and low back while
we're trying to do work out of desks. And as always,
I'd really appreciate it if you hit the subscribe button and the notification
bell,
so you can be informed when we upload a new video designed to help you stay
well at home. We sit more than we've ever sat,
and this has devastating consequences to not only our spinal health,
but to our overall health.
You have probably heard that sitting is the new smoking.
We know that if you sit more than four hours a day,
you are at risk for chronic health conditions -
diabetes, cancer, heart disease,
even depression and anxiety.
So while I'm going to show you some tips in order to minimize the effects of
sitting on our health, I will say this:
there is not a sitting posture that is correct for hours on end.
In fact, there's not a standing posture that is good for you for hours on end.
So you don't have to have a fancy ergonomic chair to apply some
of these tips nor you need a standing desk to apply some of these tips.
I'm going to give you the easiest things you can implement immediately to get
relief from sitting posture.
These tips will not only be benefit to those people that have an L4 L5
five disc bulge, sciatica, mid-back pain, neck pain, headaches.
This video will be beneficial to those who want to prevent those things from
happening. So I want to start by focusing on our lumbar spine.
The best way to maintain the best posture possible when sitting
is to look at the lumbar spine.
We know that when we look at a spine from the front, a pelvis too,
that we want it to be straight. We want it to be level.
So we need to keep this in mind when we're sitting, we don't want to sit,
say on our side or always on the same side,
we want to make sure we are focused on keeping a level pelvis and
a straight spine.
The other thing we want to make sure is that we are in a comfortable,
neutral position.
It is impossible to maintain an exaggerated posture.
In fact,
an exaggerated upright posture has been shown to be not the most effective way
to minimize stress on your spine and lower back.
Evidence shows that when we sit there is a 90% increase
in stress or pressure through our discs in our lower back when we compare it
to standing.
Specifically the L4 L5 disc undergoes
measurable change in height. After 15 to 30 minutes of sitting.
We should know then if we sit all day or for extended periods of time,
this is going to put wear and tear through our spine.
Oftentimes patients will present with sciatica, a disc bulge,
a disc herniation, low back pain.
And the only mechanism was that they were sitting for a long period of time.
Oftentimes this causes microtraumas in our spine and it wears
things down. If we sit all day,
that is a recipe for disaster.
Typically that injury happens due to a weakening of the tissues in the
spine and that last movement is the straw that breaks the camel's back.
What can you do to minimize the chances of low back pain or an injury from
sitting while doing your work? For the first tip, like I mentioned earlier,
we want to look at our lower back posture. We know from the side,
we should have a nice smooth curve where our thorax is over top of our pelvis.
Sometimes when we're sitting,
it's very difficult to maintain a neutral lower back.
So the easiest thing to do is take a small pillow.
You could roll a towel,
it could be a small pillow that you fold and you want to make sure that this
part goes in to the
small of your back. And so what that does,
it allows you to lean back into the chair at about a 100 to 120
degrees with a little bit of support in your lower back.
What it doesn't allow,
It doesn't allow you to slouch forward kind of like that couch slopes that we've
talked about in the past.
It sets as a reminder to not have that lazy posture.
Now,
one thing you definitely want to be aware of is your head posture when you're
leaning slightly back. What you don't want to do,
you do not want to let that head come forward.
So with the proper sitting position or posture,
really at the forefront of our minds, when we're sitting,
whether we're doing work, eating dinner, watching a movie,
you need to try to maintain some type of posture awareness.
If you have a fancy ergonomic chair, it probably has one built in,
but you don't need it. You can use a small rolled towel,
a small pillow like I have here, just be very aware.
It should be a relaxed position. You shouldn't be firing your muscles.
You should be leaning slightly back allowing that natural curve to maintain,
without much effort.
The second tip involves the levers - play with the levers.
And what I mean by that is this change the position of your chair.
Use the levers.
They're there to allow a little bit of functional change in the chair.
What we talked about first,
there is a perfect sitting posture.
Even if you sit with perfect posture over a period of time,
it's still not good for you.
You have to continue to change positions frequently.
All it takes is a bit of a change you can tilt back.
You might be able to tilt your chair forward.
Anything that you can do to change position is going to be beneficial for you.
Remember soft tissues like discs, muscles, ligaments,
they're designed to move.
We were never designed to sit for 2, 4,
6, 8, and I know some of you 10 to 12 hours a day.
It doesn't matter if you're at a standing desk or a sitting desk.
If you are not changing positions frequently,
your body will break down.
Another device I find helpful that can help you continue to change position - a
foot stool or a foot rest.
This one actually moves.
And so I can actually move my feet up and down.
And what this does,
this actually can create muscle contraction that helps with circulation,
but it also just gets you moving a little bit.
Sometimes I'll take one foot off and keep one on. I'll do the opposite.
There are so many different alternatives and the movements do not have
to be gigantic movements. These are just simple things to get your hip moving,
to rotate your spine.
A foot rest or stool just allows very simple movements to allow movement
in the joints, such as your knees, your ankles, your hips, your pelvis,
and even your lower back.
It just creates some change that your body craves after being in a
position for too long.
So not only should you be posture aware when you're sitting,
especially with the lumbar spine and your neck posture,
but you should also be movement aware,
try to break the habit of not moving.
The top of the computer screen should be the top of your eyes,
so you can see this is way off. This is more of a prop today than anything.
One other thing you want to make sure is,
especially if you're using this as a workstation, is that when you're resting,
whether it be for your mouse or your keyboard, you want to rest on the palms,
try your best, not to rest on your wrists.
If you are like the edge of this on your wrists, what you're going to do,
you're going to irritate some very sensitive nerves and blood vessels that go
through the carpal tunnel and you're going to create a condition called carpal
tunnel syndrome. You do not want that.
Research shows that we should move every 15 to 30 minutes
when sitting, especially at a workstation.
Now I know most people are gonna think, how is that even possible?
And it is difficult, especially if you're focusing on a task.
It's very hard to remember to move.
One thing that some people find effective is to set a timer on their computer or
their smartphone or the watch to remind them.
One of the best tips that I can give you that works very well for me
is a glass of water.
When you continue to drink water throughout your day,
what is the number one reason why you're going to get up,
you're going to have to use the washroom. And it is an excellent reminder.
And the benefit is is that we, as a society,
don't drink enough water. When most of our bodies are made of water.
This is an excellent tip to not only make sure you're moving and getting up,
but it's just good for your health. If you'd like this video,
I'd appreciate if you hit the thumbs up and as always,
I will answer any question that you put in the comments,
and if you'd like the content we're putting out,
please hit the subscribe button and the notification bell so you can be updated
when we upload a new video. If you enjoyed that video,
here's one that teaches you how to sit on a couch appropriately.
And this video here is going to show you how to get in and out of your bed
properly and how to sleep better If you have a low back condition such as
sciatica, an L4 L5 disc bulge, or just plain old back pain.
And until next time be well.