spinal problems

Why Sitting For Long Periods Is Detrimental To Spinal Health

April 3, 2016

Sitting For Long Periods of Time Can Promote Negative Spinal Health

 

Those bound to a desk all day are quite aware how taxing sitting can be on one’s back, as you pivot, straighten, bend and stretch your way through the day.

 

You might not notice that the chair is the culprit of the aches and pains until you're popping a handful of aspirin to alleviate it. This modern affliction has spawned a variety of innovations in office apparatuses. Yet, as Allison Payne, author of “Sitting or Standing, Office Workers Need Massage” for Massage Magazine, writes, such impedimenta might not prove to be so beneficial.  

 

“Recent research into the negative health consequences of sitting all day has fueled the popularity of sit-stand desks, which allow employees to alternate between sitting and standing—and which might provide new challenges to massage therapists.”

 

If You Think Simply Standing Can Aid Your Sore Back, Think Again

 

It may come as a surprise to many of us to learn that standing doesn’t actually solve the issues associated with sitting for long periods of time. Caylon Ellis, owner of Caylon Ellis Therapeutics in Carlsbad, California, in an interview with Payne, says that this is a “fallacy of logic”.  

 

“I don’t think that is sound logic, to assume that the opposite of something that’s bad is good. It depends on a lot of factors,” Ellis says. “Other spinal issues, such as degenerative disc disease or stenosis, can worsen if an office worker stands too much, Ellis added. So, office workers and back pain might show up in a massage therapist’s practice, even among clients who use a sit-stand desk.”

 

How Can Massage Therapy Help?

 

As has been quoted by many health practitioners in recent times: “sitting is the new smoking,” the industry of massage therapy is taking this new, modern-day affliction head-on.

 

A massage therapist can work those sore areas, but it’s fundamentally up to you to exercise healthy workplace habits such as rising from that seat and moving about. Simply standing upright isn’t the right approach. As humans, we’re built for motion, and habitual movement throughout the day is good for the mind, body and spirit.