What happens to your intervertebral discs when you sit?
Sitting in office chairs for long periods of time not only affects your muscles but impacts the disks in your spine.
In humans over 5 years of age, there is no direct blood supply to the jelly like nucleus of the intervertebral discs.
The intervertebral discs therefore rely upon fluid inflow and outflow for their nutrition: when you lie down, the pressure comes off the discs and they expand, absorbing water and nutrients as they do so (rather like a sponge expanding and sopping up a spill on the floor).
Unloaded Disc Filling with nutrient rich liquid
When you stand up, the discs are compressed and their watery component is squeezed out, thus removing waste products at the same time.
Loaded Discs Being Compressed
Similar squeeze/expand cycles are occurring every time that we move, both day and night. This means you must move in order to “feed” your discs and keep them healthy. The disc squeeze/expand cycle is crucial to spinal health. It is well proven that your degenerative disc “disease” progresses faster over time if your discs can’t alternate compression with expansion. As sitting more than half the time at work is associated with herniated discs (or slipped discs) and sciatic nerve pain in those older than 35, so try to get up and move as much as possible.
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The Impact of Sitting All Day – Part 1
For most people know they sit all day as part of their job. Recently there has been a spate of article in the press about the impact of sitting all day, so I wanted to take some time to look at the impact of sitting all day.
Sit up Straight
I want to start this series of articles on a positive note, as most of my clients have to sit to work, the negative impact of sitting is minimised if you sit correctly. As your Mum always said, "Sit up straight", i.e.- Not leaning forward
- Shoulders relaxed
- Arms close to sides
- Elbows bent 90°
- Lower back should be supported
- Feet flat on floor
So what happens if you don't sit up straight?
As you would expect from a masseur I am going to start by looking at the impact on your muscles.
Strained Neck & Sore Shoulders
If most of your sitting occurs at a desk at work, craning your neck forward toward a keyboard or tilting your head to cradle a phone while typing can strain the cervical vertebrae and lead to permanent imbalances. The neck doesn't slouch alone. Slumping forward overextends the shoulder and back muscles as well, particularly the trapezius, which connects the neck and shoulders. Here at Vitality Therapy we offer Seated Acupressure Massage to directly address these issues.Bad back
When we move around, soft discs between vertebrae expand and contract like sponges, soaking up fresh blood and nutrients. But when we sit for a long time, discs are squashed unevenly. Collagen hardens around supporting tendons and ligaments. So people who sit more are at greater risk of slipped disks or herniated disks.I recommend the Yoga position cat-cow for increasing your spinal flexibility. (Click here for guidelines on how to do cat-cow.)
When you sit for a long time, a muscle called the psoas travels through the abdominal cavity and, when it tightens, pulls the upper lumbar spine forward. Upper-body weight rests entirely on the ischial tuberosity (sitting bones) instead of being distributed along the arch of the spine. A sports massage or a deep tissue massage can release a tight psoas muscle.
Mushy abs
When you stand, move or even sit up straight, abdominal muscles keep you upright. But when you slump in a chair, they go unused. Tight back muscles and wimpy abs form a posture-wrecking alliance that can exaggerate the spine's natural arch, a condition called hyperlordosis, or swayback. So sitting up straight is the first step to good abs!Tight hips
Flexible hips help keep you balanced, but chronic sitters so rarely extend the hip flexor muscles in front that they become short and tight, limiting range of motion and stride length. Studies have found that decreased hip mobility is a main reason elderly people tend to fall. So when you are in the gym remember tohttp://vitalitytherapy.co.uk/wp-admin/post-new.php stretch your hip flexors.Limp glutes
Sitting requires your glutes to do absolutely nothing, and they get used to it. Soft glutes hurt your stability, your ability to push off and your ability to maintain a powerful stride when walking. They can impact your performance when you run, as all powerful glutes are the key to increasing your speed and powering you up hills.Anxiety reduction & massage?
I know that I often say that one of the benefits of massage is that it may reduce anxiety. I think most people would agree that being in hospital or undergoing hospital procedures may makes us feel anxious. So I was interested in a recent study that looked at the effectiveness of massage with or without guided imagery (a therapist talking you through a scene to help you relax), prior to cardiac catheterisation. As you can imagine anxiety is very common in patients prior to cardiac catheterisation, which can lead to high blood pressure and increase the amount of sedation necessary to complete the procedure. Fifty five patients opted to receive either a 15-minute massage (31 patients) and a 20 minute guided imagery (24 patients) in a quiet area of the hospital prior to cardiac catheterisation. Self-report anxiety levels, blood pressure and heart rate were evaluated in the research participants as well as matched for comparison to a control group not taking part in the study. The results indicated that massage, with or without guided imagery, produced significant reductions in self-reported anxiety, with the combined intervention having a more pronounced effect. In addition a lower diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were found when compared to the control group. In my experience slow, deep stokes help to reduce anxiety and as a team we often incorporate this into treatments. References Amstrong K, Dixon S, May S, Patricolo GE (2014). Anxiety reduction in patients undergoing cardiac catheterisation, following massage and guided imagery. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 20 (4): 334 - 338.
