Do you remember studying tirelessly for the challenging exam you thought you’d fail? Having your notes scattered across the desk, you decided to stay up all night to finish the remaining syllabus. Though your exam might’ve gone better than expected, the back pain caused due to uninterrupted study session is now taking a toll on your health.
Sitting on a desk all night and then doing the same thing again in the exam center was sure to cause a lot of temporary aches and pain.
So, you might wonder why you get back pain when sitting at a desk? And is there anything you can do to fix it? Grab your reading glasses and continue reading to know the answer of your queries.
We will further talk about the following:
- Lower Back Pain When Sitting
- Causes of Back Pain When Sitting
- Why is it Dangerous?
- How to Relieve Back Pain When Sitting?
- Take Breaks
- Check Your Posture
- Use Support
- Apply Ice
- Stretch it Out
- Use the Right Chair
- SUPMOGO RecoveryFlex System
- When to See Your Doctor?
Lower Back Pain When Sitting
Experiencing lower back pain when sitting too long is not surprising. Putting pressure on your spine and hips for an extended period can cause temporary discomfort.
It’s because the weight of your body causes the hip flexors to stiffen. The spinal discs can also become worn out if your posture is incorrect. This can cause back pain in many individuals, which may become chronic if not treated on time.
According to a study, lumbar pain is common among working-class people due to their long working hours sitting at a desk.[1]
Another side effect is that too much sitting can cause blood to pool in your legs. It can then become the reason for swelling or bulging of the veins and other conditions like varicose veins.
Lastly, the passive position can also disturb and slow down the metabolism as your body is in a state of rest. Therefore, it can cause obesity and other health issues.
Causes for Back Pain When Sitting
Middle back pain when sitting can frustrate anyone since it can cause a lot of discomforts. Note that sitting at a desk normally for an hour or two won't cause any issues, but doing this daily can hurt your back.
Not everyone sitting at a desk will have back issues because how they sit and what they do in daily life also impacts their health.
Below we have listed a few causes for back pain that you experience when sitting for long:
- Poor posture and straining your hip and back muscles
- Slouching, which causes stress to the ligaments
- Stiffness in your spine from inactivity
- Being out of shape or obese
- Herniated disc
- Osteoarthritis
- Muscle stain
- Sciatica
- Injury
Why is it Dangerous?
Back pain when sitting too long can become a risk factor for many major diseases and conditions. Apart from chronic back pain, it can also pose a risk to your overall health as it decreases the blood flow to different body parts. According to research, bad blood circulation can cause heart disease.[2]
In addition, sitting for too long can cause bone diseases and issues in the spine, including sciatica, muscle weakness, and herniated disc. Lastly, sitting for a long period can cause insulin resistance, leading to diabetes and cholesterol issues.
These are the first step towards obesity and other conditions which will hamper the everyday life of an individual. Therefore, treating the root cause is important to prevent the devastating effects.
How to Relieve Back Pain When Sitting?
Back pain when sitting too long can prove detrimental to health in the long run. It can hamper your productivity and greatly affect your health. Therefore, dealing with back pain as soon as possible is essential.
If you have been suffering from back pain for quite a while, here are a few ways to relieve it.
1. Take Breaks
Sitting for an extended period is dangerous for your health and posture.[3] It can even cause major diseases and irreversible damage to your spine. So, avoiding sitting for long hours and taking breaks is better.
Generally, it’s advised that you stand up after 45 minutes of sitting and stretch or walk a bit. Afterward, you can stroll for 5 minutes, stretch your back and arms, drink a glass of water, and sit at the desk again.
Repeat these steps after every 45 minutes to ensure that you don’t over-compress and damage your spine and that the blood flow isn’t affected.
2. Check Your Posture
Most of the time, bad posture is the main culprit behind lower back aches since it can cause undue pressure on certain regions of your back and hips. Additionally, the reclined position can damage the discs in your spine.
So, to relieve back pain, always check and correct your posture while sitting. You can also invest in footrests to lift your legs and ensure that blood flows to them.
Sitting upright and keeping the back straight is the correct position. Try to position your buttocks at the back of the chair so that the curves of the back are intact.
3. Use Support
Regarding postures, the back support can help keep the back straight. However, most people sit in slouched or hunched positions, and trying to keep the spine stretched can become a struggle.
In that case, you can invest in back support to ensure the spine doesn’t bend. The best part? The back support pillow will also help you sit upright without extra effort.
4. Apply Ice
At times, it becomes important to sit down for a long time and complete the tasks at hand. If you don’t have enough time to take regular breaks between those sitting hours, some ice packs can be enough to fix those aches.
Just put them directly on your back for immediate relief. But remember that this tip is recommended for occasional uses only when you have no time for other remedies.
5. Stretch it Out
Another important thing to treat back pain due to sitting is to do stretches very often. This includes stretching your arms, legs, and back to keep the blood flowing and to exercise the muscles.
Take 5 minutes from your daily life to do jumping jacks, squats, and other stretching poses. Studies prove that stretching helps to improve back movement and reduce back pain.[4]
6. Use the Right Chair
We can't stress the importance of a correct chair enough for people who work at their desks. Unfortunately, most chairs don't have back support or the proper structure to support your back for long working hours. Therefore, you must invest in chairs with a straight back for low back support.
It will not only help with lumbar pain, but you’ll also enjoy the time spent on the chair rather than changing your sitting position again and again due to discomfort.
Back pain when standing from sitting can happen for various reasons, including annual tears and ligament strains. When you’ve seated, the facet joints in your spine are open and slightly flexed, but as soon as you stand up, these joints return to a compressed state. Standing up after a long time can put pressure on these joints and cause back pain.
7. SUPMOGO RecoveryFlex System
Health is wealth, and no one wants back issues as they can hinder your routine activities. Back pain when sitting up for an extended period can become hard to deal with if you are a chronic ‘sitter.’ The sedentary lifestyle also plays a negative part in the issue.
If you’ve decided to work out and do stretches for your back issues, another tool that can greatly help you in this journey is the SUPMOGO Regenerative Wearable belt. It’s the first of this kind of tool designed to help people with back pain and other issues.
What’s more? Wearing the belt is easy and convenient due to its light and simple design. It will help you relax and exercise the deepest back layer for a strong and strengthened core and spine.
When to See Your Doctor?
Back pain when sitting down can vary in severity depending on your routine and working hours. Though slight discomfort and numbness are common, anything severe and long-lasting must be treated. So, if it’s been more than a week since the pain, it’s time to plan an appointment with your healthcare professional.
Conclusion
Now that you know why your back hurts so bad after a long gaming session, you can prepare beforehand before the next gaming session starts. For example, back pain when sitting in a chair can be dealt with easily if you know the basics.
The vital thing to remember here is that your spine is the most important part of the body. If you treat it with care, you can also slow down aging and bone degeneration.
Make sure to sit straight, use the right chair, take breaks and use SUPMOGO Fitness Belt to say goodbye to back pain.
[1] Roffey, D. M., Wai, E. K., Bishop, P., Kwon, B. K., & Dagenais, S. (2010). Causal assessment of occupational sitting and low back pain: results of a systematic review. The Spine Journal, 10(3), 252-261.
[2] Coats, A. J. (2001). What causes the symptoms of heart failure?. Heart, 86(5), 574-578.
[3] Dunstan, D. W., Howard, B., Healy, G. N., & Owen, N. (2012). Too much sitting–a health hazard. Diabetes research and clinical practice, 97(3), 368-376.
[4] Khalil, T. M., Asfour, S. S., Martinez, L. M., Waly, S. M., Rosomoff, R. S., & Rosomoff, H. L. (1992). Stretching in the rehabilitation of low-back pain patients. Spine, 17(3), 311-317.