Healing back pain with new sitting ergonomics
There is an effective cure and prevention for back pains. Posture, posture and posture – this is what top professionals say.
New concept to build good posture
The good posture is best achieved on a two-part saddle chair that has a dynamic seat (the seat follows your movements). You also need an e-table (electrically height-adjustable), the top of which is just under your elbows so that you look just a little downwards. It also helps a lot if you have a padded support under your elbows. A table with belly pocket and elbow paddings will do the same.
You should wear loose clothes, especially around the pelvic area. When sitting on a saddle chair there are 135 degree angles in your hips and knees, that angle is neutral and the healthiest for the joints. The pelvis is tilted forward, in the same way as when we are standing. When you are sitting like this you’ll get all the benefits of standing for your upper body, without the unhealthy strain on the feet.
Add movement
It is good to add movement into sitting: stand for a while, stretch, roll and reach, swing your pelvis from side to side on the moving seat, and walk during phone calls (use a Bluetooth) and meetings. It’s also very useful to have a cowbell, hand weights, gym stick or some other exercise equipment to work with occasionally during the day for better circulation.
Mere standing is not the solution – if in doubt, ask somebody who stands for the whole work day.
The mechanism of the problems
Sitting in a posture where the back is rounded is the main reason for back pains. Immobility, obesity, poor nutrition and smoking add to the problems. Back problems are the result of mainly two mechanisms:
- In a poor posture there is 30 % more pressure on the disks than in a good posture. That will finally result in deteriorated and/or herniated disks.
- The circulation is diminished in the little spinal joint arteries (facets); and around the lowest joint (L5) there are no arteries at all. The traditional sitting in a poor posture makes the back muscles tight, which prevents circulation and lymph flow. The tissues don’t get enough oxygen and nutrition, and the wastes are not properly removed. All this will cause inevitable deterioration of the back. There may also be osteoporosis in the joints, and the 48 fact joints that “lean” to each other, will be affected by arthrosis which is often the reason for the so called unspecific pains. Ligaments and small back muscles deteriorate too.
Doctors do not consult you properly
Back pains are a real gold mine for the manufacturers and sellers of pain killers, and for clinics. This is the main reason in this corrupted world why the really effective ergonomic and preventive measures are poorly searched. A person with a healthy back will not become a patient for clinics or pain killer manufacturers.
The above mentioned ergonomics will make ailing backs painless, unbelievably, usually in a week or two.
The statements on the page are based on the following sources:
Michael Adams, Nikolai Bogduk, Kim Burton, Patricia Dolan: The Biomechanics of Back Pain
David A. Rubenstein, Wei Yin, Mary D. Frame: Biofluid Mechanics, an Introduction to Fluid Mechanics, Macrocirculation, and Microcirculation
Marcus J. Seibel, Simon P. Robins, John P. Bilezikian: Dynamics of Bone and Cartilage Metabolism, Principles and Clinical Applications
