Back Pain from Sitting Solution

If sitting causes you back pain you have two options to improve:

1. Sit better

2. Sit less

This article is going to help you apply both of these options to your life.

My Experience

My back first started hurting when I was 10 years old. I went to chiropractors, several doctors, and did physical therapy, but found little to no relief. The worst part was nobody knew what the cause of my pain was! On MRIs and X-rays, different doctors came up with different potential causes: scoliosis, bulging discs, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease. I didn't know it at the time, but the scans the doctors used to diagnose my pain can show all these "abnormalities" without causing any pain [Source]!

The only way I was able to identify the cause of my pain was through personal study. After working with hundreds of clients, I’ve discovered that most back pain is caused by how we use our bodies. To heal yourself, you must study yourself and practice pattern recognition.

A primary pain trigger for me was excess sitting with poor posture. None of the doctors, chiropractors, or physical therapists ever asked me about any of this. They saw my problem as a structural issue, instead of the functional issue of sitting too much and sitting poorly. Now I know how to sit better and how to sit less, and that's what I'm going to share with you here.

How to Sit Better

Try this yourself. Place one hand on your low back and the other at the back of your neck and then round forward and hold. You’ll feel these muscles become firm. Now, lean back until you feel these muscles relax. Most people have poor posture and movement habits that cause muscles to be chronically tight and sore, compress joints and nerves, and put stress on bones and ligaments.

Let’s pretend you hit your thumb with a hammer 1,000 times. It’s going to be damaged, inflamed, and even the slightest touch will cause you to flinch and feel pain. This is similar to what happens when you continuously stress your back with poor posture and movement. Even the slightest thing can cause you to feel pain because your back has become sensitive. The first step to healing your back and becoming pain-free is to stop hitting yourself with the hammer. Stop performing the micro damage to your spine by learning good spine hygiene.

Now let's say you have to sit in a chair and have no choice to choose other options. Here is how to sit properly.

Roll Hips Forward

The position of your hips is the most important part of sitting well. When the hips are well-positioned and your posture is tall, the spine is balanced and neutral.

To sit with good posture, sit at the rear of the seat and roll your pelvis forward to sit on the sit bones. You can find these bones by sitting on your hands and feeling for two bony points at the bottom of your hips.

Imagine you are a dog and allow your tail to stick out behind you. Don’t sit on your tail!

Once your hips are positioned well, think about balancing your spine on your hips. Better posture balances bones, while worse posture uses muscles and ligaments to hold you up, which leads to chronic pain. When we focus on balance, better posture becomes easier and requires less effort than slouching.

Adjust Seat Height

Find a seat that places your hips slightly above your knees to make it easier to roll your hips forward. If your seat is too low, sit on a wedge or tuck one or both legs under.

 If your seat is too high, place something under your feet.

Sit Evenly & Open Hips

Let your legs naturally open and spread your butt cheeks to widen your base of support and take stress off the low back.

Avoid crossing your legs, or if you must only cross your ankles to avoid uneven stress on your spine.

Stretchsitting

Use the back support of your seat to help lengthen the spine. Sit your butt all the way to the back of the seat, press down with your arms to lengthen your spine, and then “attach” your mid-back just below your shoulder blades to the seat behind you. Solidify this position by setting your shoulders back and down by performing a shoulder roll. Use a towel or stretchsit cushion to make this easier.

In the Car

Using a lumbar support can alleviate the discomfort of sitting, but it doesn’t train you to maintain good posture without it and can cause excessive low back arching. This is why I recommend the stretchsit cushion over using a lumbar support.

Maintain a long spine with the shoulders down and back. Place a stretchsit cushion or towel at the back of your seat to help you maintain good posture and avoid sinking into the car seat.

On an Airplane

Place a cushion towards the back of your seat to get your knees above your hips and assist with rolling your pelvis forward. Use a stretchsit cushion or sweatshirt to support your mid back and assist with maintaining a long neutral spine. Take regular breaks to stretch your legs when you can.

At the Computer

Set your screen to eye-level if you can to avoid slouching.

Keep the shoulders back and down in a good position and only rotate your palms down to type.

Standing desks are great, but you can still slouch while standing! Stand with your feet wider than hip width apart - a straddle or split squat position - to prevent slouching while improving hip mobility.

A computer posture alternative is the half-kneeling position where you place a cushion under your knee and switch legs regularly to maintain a stretch in the hips and a long spine.

On a Bicycle

Sit with a long spine while riding a bicycle. Ground your pelvis, straighten your back, and relax your shoulders away from your ears.

On the Toilet

Spread your legs and roll your hips forward to maintain a straight spine to avoid straining your back. Good posture and deep breathing will also make your bowel movements easier.

How to Sit Less

The best posture is variety. If you must sit for extended periods, like when working at a desk on the computer, find multiple postures you can hold so you provide variety to your tissues.

Sit on the floor to improve circulation and strengthen your hip, ankle, and knee joints. A nice rug or cushioned floor will incentivize you to sit/lie on the ground instead of on the couch. Here are some sitting postures you can use to add variety to the loads you're placing on your tissues. Many of these can be used while working at your computer. Play around to find postures you like best.

You can also watch the below video for guided postures to provide pain-relief.

I hope this helps! If you have questions, leave a comment or send me a message!