Sittin Pretty How To Sit Like A Chiropractor.
Have you noticed an increase in your low back pain after sitting in your chair after a long period of time?
Well, today I’m going to show you the proper form for sitting in your chair to help decrease that back pain. I’m Dr. Kara Penson, and I’m a chiropractor here at HealthWorks, a family wellness center in Plano, Texas.
Your low back pain can be caused by many things when you’re sitting.
There are disc issues, there’s sciatica, there’s even just muscle strains that can be caused by sitting, as well as just it being your bad posture. Today I’m going to show you how to correct that posture. What we’re looking for is how to help decrease that back pain. To start off, most people either sit all slouched in their seat and all of their weight in the back. This causes that slumping position. We don’t want that, it decreases the curve of your low back. Or, they can be too far forward with their weight forward, and that causes this increased arch in your low back when you’re sitting with your weight forward. We don’t want that either because we don’t want that increased curve in your back. We like to see it nice and neutral.
First, sit with your spine straight up and down.
For proper sitting, we would like to have you imagine that there’s a pole going from the top of your head down through your hips, and you just want to be as straight as possible. And you don’t want to be, again, leaning too far back. You want to make sure your shoulders line up with your hips and that your ears line up with your shoulders. Even if that causes a little bit of correction, pull those shoulders back, pull that head back, and sit in a nice, neutral position. That’s what we like to see for that. You also want your knees to be at about a 90-degree angle, and your feet want to be flat on the floor. If you can’t reach the floor, you can always scoot up in your seat or scoot back as needed. Now that’s going to be that proper position. Now, if you’re slightly uncomfortable with this position, that means you’re probably doing it correctly.
Those muscles have been trained in that bad posture, in that slumping back or leaning forward. That’s what they think- that is their happy place, but that’s actually causing an increased muscle strain, which can lead to spasms and increased pain in the area. If you’re a little bit uncomfortable, you’re probably doing it right. That’s just going to help you retrain those muscles to say, “Oh, this is where I need to be.” That’s what we would like to see. If this video has worked for you, leave a comment down below, and feel free to share it with a friend who you think it may help.
To see a video version of this information please visit our YouTube channel.
HealthWorks: A Family Wellness Center is a chiropractic and wellness center located in Plano, Texas. Our chiropractors, Dr. Christy Flick and Dr. Jennifer Taylor have been helping patients function better since starting a private practice in 2005. For information about this article or other chiropractic questions, please contact our office at 972-612-1800, visit our website at https://www.healthworkstx.com/, or stop by our office at 2317 Coit Rd., Ste B, Plano, TX 75075