How Sitting All Day Changes Your Spine

Let me begin by giving you some historical perspective on this question. The truth is that human genetics are substantially unchanged in the last 30,000 to 40,000 years. What this means is that you and I are walking around with the genetic programming of our hunter gatherer ancestors. Those people, our ancestors, rarely sat and, if they did, they were not sitting on chairs, sofas and recliners. More fundamentally, they spent their entire lives moving their bodies. That had been the case for countless millennia and that trend persisted until a few hundred years ago.

A basic fact, and this applies to body mechanics and human physiology generally, is that if we engage in lifestyle patterns that are in conflict with our genetic programming, dysfunction and disease soon follow. Such is the case with our prolonged sitting. Our old environment resulted in frequent movement, variable loading, walking, lifting, and changing posture. Our information age environment has resulted in prolonged sitting, sustained visual attention, repetitive small movements, and relatively little whole-body loading.

How Prolonged Sitting Affects Your Spine and Body

The results of these changes are as follows:

1) The spine becomes a static structure.

The spine is designed to move and distribute loads, not simply holding one position for hours. Prolonged sitting keeps the lumbar spine relatively flexed and reduces the normal alteration between loading and unloading. Over time this can contribute to:

• reduced spinal mobility
• stiffness, particularly after prolonged sitting
• fatigue of the trunk and hip musculature
• greater sensitivity to sustained postures
• aggravation of existing low back pain

Sitting itself isn’t inherently damaging. The bigger issue is duration without movement. A healthy spine generally tolerates a wide range of positions when those positions are varied.

2) The pelvis and lumbar curve change.

In order for the lumbar spine to work properly and load efficiently, you must have a curve (lordosis) in the low back. Sitting for prolonged periods of time tends to cause the pelvis to rock back and the lumbar curve to diminish. This results in increased loading of the discs.

3) The neck is increasingly affected by screens.

As the eyes focus downward, people commonly flex the head and neck forward. When such postures are prolonged, neck/shoulder discomfort, fatigue, headaches, and premature degeneration of the neck ensue.

4) The discs experience prolonged loading.

Prolonged loading can cause discs to degenerate over time. Frequent movement breaks can be more useful than obsessing over finding the single perfect sitting posture.

5) Muscles become less challenged.

The body adapts to the demands placed upon it. If the dominant demand is sitting, there is less reason for the system to maintain the capacity required for prolonged walking, lifting, carrying, and other physical activities essential to life.

6) We lose movement variety.

Whether you’re an athlete or simply go to the grocery store once a week, it is essential to maintain capacity for all the different things that life demands, particularly as we age. Prolonged sitting creates less total movement and less variation in movement. That matters because tissues tend to respond well to graded, varied loading.

What Can You Do About Prolonged Sitting?

If you, or someone you know, suffers with the physical and psychological effects of prolonged sitting, then there are plenty of things that can be done to help you.

• Find time every day to move your body. It doesn’t even matter what you do; just move it.
• Make sure your workstation, including your chair, is properly set up to support your posture.
• Get up frequently during the day to move your body, stretch, and allow your muscles to lengthen.
• Consider getting a sit to stand desk so that you can change position throughout the day.

Chiropractic Care for the Effects of Prolonged Sitting

Last, but not least, see a chiropractor who can help restore and offset the damaging effects of prolonged sitting. The doctors at Chiropractic Health and Wellness are trained to assist you with both the mechanical and postural impacts of prolonged sitting. Give us a call, or schedule your appointment today.

About the Author

Dr. Tim Fargo is a chiropractor dedicated to helping patients improve their spine health through evidence-based chiropractic care, movement education, and healthy lifestyle habits. His approach focuses on identifying the underlying causes of pain while helping patients build long-term strength, mobility, and resilience so they can stay active and enjoy life.