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.
Related Posts
Does massage help tense muscles or muscle soreness?
A lot of clients visit it us in clinic with tense muscles, which over time can lead to achy muscles and this in turn can then lead to episodes of muscle pain. Muscle tension refers to the condition in which muscles of the body remain semi-contracted for an extended period. Muscle tension is frequently caused by the physiological effects of stress. Massage is well documented to reduce muscle tension (see top two references). In addition what is also known to help are
- hot baths
- yoga
- stretching
Can massage help you if you are constipated?
Recently scientists have looked at the impact of abdominal massage on people with constipation. Constipation affects twice as many women as men. Older people are more likely to be affected and in addition taking certain medications e.g. opioids can cause it. A randomised control trail of 204 patients with constipation (from opioid medication), were split into two equal groups. The intervention group were taught how to administer abdominal massage on themselves, in a clockwise direction over the intestines on the abdominal wall, which they performed twice a day for four weeks after breakfast & dinner. The control group received standard medical care, such as laxatives, suppositories and enemas. Both groups were asked to keep a diary of their bowel movements and to complete three questionnaires, including the Bristol stool scale for evaluating stools and bowel habits, the visual analogue scale, which contains questions about constipation, including severity, straining & pain. Patients in the massage group reported significant improvements in stool consistency, straining during defecation, the feeling of incomplete emptying after defecation and experienced increase bowel movements. They also reported a reduction in the severity of constipation, pain, straining, gas & fullness in the rectum. However, the massage had no effect on the stool amount. The researchers concluded that abdominal massage was an effective approach for managing opioid induced constipation. So if you suffer from constipation consider abdominal massage. Reference https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31358243
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.
