BEWARE OF THE CHAIR

By Jon Lewis BSc (Hons) HCPC

If you read my last article you will know that I am not a big fan of high heels
(they hurt my feet) as long term and freuent use can cause serious
biomechanical imbalances! long term deformities and chronic "ain# $he ne%t
modern in&ention to go on the cho""ing block is'##the chair#
$he chair has been around for a &ery! &ery long time in one form or another# ("
until the )*
th
century they were reser&ed mostly for the "ri&ileged as a dis"lay of
wealth! but since +enaissance times the chair has become a more "o"ular
instrument used by the masses to rela%# ,owadays! with the creation of modern
technology such as cars! com"uters and tele&isions! we sit in chairs more than
e&er# -or many "eo"le their days may look a little like this.

If this day is anything like yours then you may be sitting for u" to )/ hours a day#
$his is belie&ed not only to contribute to the rising rates of obesity!
cardio&ascular diseases and early death! but it is one of the leading causes of
headaches and "ain in the back! neck and
shoulders#
So what is the problem with
sitting ?
If we look at someone from the side in normal
standing "osition! they will ideally ha&e nice 0S1
sha"ed s"ine2 with an arched lower (lumbar)
s"ine! rounded mid (thoracic) s"ine and arched
neck (cer&ical s"ine)# 3 "erfect "osture reuires
the ears! shoulders! hi"s! knees and ankles to be
"erfectly aligned from to" to bottom# $his allows
the body to mo&e in an e4cient! "ain free way#
3ny de&iation from this "erfect "osture is is usually
caused by muscle imbalances and 5oint
restrictions# $hese are often caused by ado"ting sustained bad
"ostures o&er a number of years#
6hen someone sits in a chair they tend to sit on their tailbone (sacrum)# $his
"ushes the "el&is backwards! causing the
lumbar s"ine to round! the thoracic s"ine
to become rounder and the neck to arch
in order to allow you to look straight
forward at the road7com"uter screen#
$his is a &ery di4cult "osition for the
body to sustain and o&er time it causes
some muscles to become shortened!
tight and hy"eracti&e and some
o&erstretched and weak# $his e&entually
results in 5oints being "ulled out of that
"erfect alignment mentioned abo&e# By
sustaining these unnatural "ostures day
in day out for u" to )/ hours a day you
are "re8dis"osing yourself to a whole
world of "ain# $his "ain can easily be
remedied by sim"le ad5ustments to your
sitting "osture and by not sitting for
"rolonged "eriods of time#
Musical statues
3s you read this I want you to free9e your body in e%actly the
"osition it is now as if we are "laying musical statues'#don1t
mo&e a muscle# ,ow obser&e your "osture#
:ou are "robable reading this article on a tablet! la"to"! or PC and I can almost
guarantee that you are in a &ery similar "osture to the "icture abo&e# :our lower
and mid back rounded! your neck either o&er arched or you are looking down and
your shoulders are "robably coming forward# If you are! and you su;er from
headaches or any "roblems with your back! neck or shoulders! then sitting is
likely contributing to this#
<ery often these "roblems can be alle&iated by following these two sim"le
measures.
)# =et u" and mo&e around e&ery >? 8@? minutes
># Abser&e good "osture when sitting '#no slouching
If you try these and are still e%"eriencing "ain! you are likely going to reuire a
"ostural assessment to identify muscle imbalances#