Column How to Sit on a Chair and Back Pain ①

Back pain is greatly influenced by lifestyle habits.
We think there are many people who are still working at home due to the effects of COVID-19
There are many people who suffer from lower back pain because the chair doesn’t fit them properly.
So, we would like to once again talk about the relationship between chairs and lower back pain.

First of all, as a premise
《Good posture doesn’t necessarily mean sticking your chest out.》
Please understand that fact as we explain further, below.

First, we will explain the bad way to sit on a chair.

〇Back pain caused by bad chair sitting and posture
When you sit on a chair, do you usually think about how you sit, thinking, “I’m going to sit like this?”
Depending on the way you sit, you may be causing lower back pain.
If you habitually sit in a bad chair without realizing it, it can affect not only the muscles around your lower back, but also areas other than your lower back, such as your hip joints and chest.

～Wrong way to sit on a chair～

We would like to introduce the common postures of back pain patients who sit for long periods of time, such as when working at a desk.

• Pushing the neck forward
  The weight of the neck, which is often used when working on a computer, puts strain on the spinal column and causes not only lower back pain but also neck and shoulder stiffness.
  
• Sitting leaning against the back of the chair
  → The pelvis tilts backwards, making it impossible to use the buttocks muscles properly.

• Sitting with your feel floating off the ground
  If your feet aren’t touching the ground, you won’t be able to relax as your whole body will be unstable. This forces you to use more muscles than when you’re on your feet, which tends to make you feel more fatigued overall. In other cases, the muscles in the lower body become tense as they support the upper body, leading to lower back pain.

• Sitting shallowly in a chair
  As a risk, if you sit with your lower back arched, your posture may appear to be good at first glance, but in reality, your lower back will be arched, which can increase the risk of lower back pain.

The way you sit on a chair has a variety of effects on your body.

That’s all for this column.
For now, check yourself to see if you regularly practice the “bad sitting posture” introduced in today’s column.
If you have been doing any of the above, please try to be conscious of your bad posture whenever you sit.
In the next column, we will talk about the correct way to sit on a chair.