It seems like everyone is having back pain these days. We see constant stories online and on television about ways to preserve your spine and keep away pain, to the point where it seems that a bad back is inevitable. The reason back pain is so prevalent these days may seem like a mystery, but the causes are actually fairly obvious. It all has to do with the ways we move–or, rather, don’t move!
Unfortunately for us, almost every aspect of our current lifestyle is putting our spines under attack. To reverse the ever-growing problem of back pain, we have to understand how our bad habits of standing, sitting, and scrolling are affecting us. Only then can we start the process of adopting a new way of living to keep our spines healthy!
Static Positioning Is a Silent Spine-Killer
If there’s one aspect of our lifestyles that hurts our spines the most, it’s static positioning. No matter how fit you are or what work you do, staying in one position for too long is the worst thing for your spine. Being static, whether you’re standing, sitting, or even lying down, puts pressure on your spinal discs. Put too much pressure in any one direction, and what do you think will happen? Pain!
Static positioning doesn’t just affect your spine, either. It also shortens your muscles, makes you weaker, and can even cause strains. Yes, that’s right, you can strain your muscles even if you’re not moving! Think of your body like a car engine…what happens when it isn’t used for a long time? Parts stiffen, pistons get rusty, and the whole thing stops working!
Unfortunately, the way we live in the 21st century often forces us to prefer static positions and sedentary habits. After all, if you work at an office and do most of your work on a computer, it’s hard to do your job if you also have to move around frequently. Obviously, we cannot all work high-movement jobs in construction, athletics, or similar fields. To keep society functioning, some of us simply have to perform more sedentary jobs. But that fact, paired with our habit of remaining sedentary beyond work, is doing a number on our backs.
How Standing, Sitting, and Scrolling Attack Your Spine
While we might not think so, standing, sitting, and scrolling are all activities that destroy our spines and lead to chronic pain. Standing is by far the best position for spinal health, as it generally keeps our spines straight and extended. But even standing can do us harm if we spend too much time in one position, if we stand in an unbalanced way, or if we have a hunched standing posture. Movement is necessary, and standing still for too long can cause just as much pain as sitting.
Sitting down might be comfortable, but unfortunately, it’s one of the worst positions to be in for a prolonged period. Sitting puts more pressure on our spinal discs than standing and shortens our hips muscles, which can affect both the back and legs. Over time, constant sitting can reduce mobility, lead to muscular weakness, and even cause circulatory issues such as blood clots.
These days, our phones and devices dominate our lives, but constant scrolling is also killing our backs. Looking down at our phones strains our heads and necks, causing chronic muscular and spinal pain and leading to stiffness and bad posture. With too much of this, and not enough treatment, our phones can lead us to have permanently hunched postures, trapping our neck and spines in positions that cause progressive damage.
With all these different ways our lifestyles can hurt our backs, it’s no surprise that our work lives can be affected. Pain can serve as a constant distraction and make it harder to work. Chronic pain can also affect our employers, as the increased risk of injury can impact the way they treat us in light of things like workers’ compensation.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Spine?
Fortunately for us, there’s tons of experience and medical wisdom that can help us combat back pain as a result of our sedentary lifestyles. Since our work is the most common source of static positioning, we can work on integrating better habits into our work life, such as investing in standing desks, practicing movement exercises throughout the workday, and generally keeping ourselves active while in the office.
If we do have to sit down, we can help make our period of sitting better for our backs by using supportive office chairs, footrests, lumbar cushions, and other tools that are proven to take pressure off our backs. Exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, being active outside of work, and engaging in posture-correcting exercises can also help us improve our overall spinal health.
Keeping Your Spine Healthy For Better Overall Health
Spinal health is not just an issue employees and average people need to be aware of–it’s also something employers and business owners should take into account. For both individuals and corporate entities, investing in health plans that cover or allow for back and spinal treatments by chiropractors and orthopedics is a great measure to preserve our backs. With adequate medical care and frequent check-ups, we can make effective plans for our back health and keep our spines safe from long-term damage that might affect our quality of life.
Conclusion
Your spine is one of the most important parts of your body, and if you damage it, the results can be debilitating. Poor spinal health can cut you off from your hobbies, travel plans, work, and even family life. It may seem like something we’ll all have to deal with someday, but that’s no reason to roll over and accept it! Take a look at the way your habits, posture, and lifestyle might be affecting your spine. Don’t let the comfort of sitting or scrolling bite you in the behind down the road!
Author Bio: Sherjan Husainie is the Founder of KIRO, the world’s most advanced chiropractic brand. He studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Toronto and Financial Engineering at UCLA Anderson. Before founding KIRO, Sherjan worked at Google and was a Vice President in Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley. His mission is to make modern, accessible chiropractic care available to 100 million members globally. His LinkedIn profile is https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherjan
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