Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
We all know that smoking, lack of exercise, excessive alcohol and a poor diet all have detrimental effects on our health. We now know that sitting needs to be part of that list.Look around at those who have completely sedentary jobs. It becomes obvious pretty quickly what can become of you if sitting a lot is your current situation.
From a chiropractors perspective, sitting is one of the most destructive positions for the musculoskeletal system. Sitting reduces activation of the low back muscles and shuts off electrical activity to the legs. When muscle activity shuts off or slows to minimal, other structures of the spine must work overtime. When you sit in a chair with a slight forward slump, the pressure on the low back discs is greater than any other position, without additional load. The stabilizing core muscles become lazy and deconditioned, and the hip flexors become short and tight. These are some of the main causes of low back pain. The multifidi muscles of the lower back atrophy. These muscles are in direct segmental control of each and every motion a particular vertebra can perform.