Do you have tight hips? – 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.

More than 10 million people in the UK get headaches regularly, making them one of the most common health complaints. The most common treatment is to take a pain killer.  In previous blog posts I have explored other treatments including

• Massage
• Nutrition
• Bowen Technique
• Cranial-Sacral Therapy
• Acupuncture

Most headaches aren't serious and are easily treated.  However it is important that anyone with a headache “that is out of the norm” should see their GP as soon as possible. Particularly if the headache is more likely to be serious i.e.:

• it occurs suddenly and is very severe – often described as a blinding pain unlike anything experienced before
• it doesn't go away and gets worse over time
• it occurs after a severe head injury
• it's triggered suddenly by coughing, laughing, sneezing, changes in posture, or physical exertion
• you have symptoms suggesting a problem with your brain or nervous system, including weakness, slurred speech, confusion, memory loss, and drowsiness
• you have additional symptoms, such as a high temperature (fever), a stiff neck, a rash, jaw pain while chewing, vision problems, a sore scalp, or severe pain and redness in one of your eyes

Tension headaches (see headache categorization) are one of the most common complaints we see in the Vitality Therapy treatment rooms, and Seated Acupressure Neck & Shoulder massage is what we recommend. (Book here)

For a while there has been an assumed link between poor sleep and heart disease but it was not understood.  Now fresh evidence suggests that sleep regulates a mechanism that can help to protect arteries from hardening.  Which reinforces the notion that good quality sleep is important for cardiovascular health. Researches studied the development of atherosclerosis - the process through which plaques or fatty deposits build up inside arteries causing them to narrow and stiffen.  They discovered sleep disturbed mice:

• Developed larger plaques in their arteries than mice that slept well.
• Had higher amounts of circulating, inflammatory cells.
• Produced lower amounts of hypocretin - a brain hormone that controls wakefulness.

Researchers also saw a reduction in atherosclerosis and inflammatory cells in these mice after they recieved hyocretin supplementation. Subject to confirmation in humans, the findings demonstratet that sleep influences cardiovascular health by regulating hypocretin production in the brain. Reference https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00393-6