Natural Healing: Sitting too much can be a pain in the lumbar

Last week we discussed the mid back, and it’s roll in rib and shoulder disorder. This week we will look at the low back.

Research suggests that over 80 percent of us will have significant low back issues in our lives. Like the neck area, the low back bones maintain their position through muscles. Because the core muscles that support the low back have the protentional to be so strong, muscular imbalance plays a huge role in lumbar health.

One of the most prominent low back pain researches in the world described the most common pattern of muscle dysfunction in the low back as low cross syndrome. This issue with muscle imbalance is almost always caused by one significant issue, which is sitting. Yes, the simple act of sitting too much profoundly effects the large muscles around the low back, setting us up for a host of problems.

This lower cross syndrome occurs due to imbalance in four big muscles that support the spine. One of these muscles is the psoas muscle, a little-known muscle that attaches the low back spinal bones to the hip bones. The job of this muscle is to compress and stabilize the low back, and to assist in hip flexion. Hip flexion is simply bringing your knee toward your chest. Of course, sitting brings our knees much closer to our chest than standing, and therefore sitting places the psoas in a contracted or shortened position. As a rule, muscles that are left in a short position adapt and become overly tight, while muscles left in an over stretched position become weak. So, sitting places this psoas muscles in a short position, which leads to becoming overtight.

The other muscle that become too tight is the hamstring muscle, which lives in the back of the thigh. The hamstrings have the effect of bending the knee, and the sitting position places us in a bent knee position over time. The hamstrings attach to the pelvis and have the effect of tilting the pelvis such that the low back spine straightens, the effect of the psoas is to bend the low back or increase the normal curve. Put these two massive muscles into competition and the pelvis is forced one direction, while the spine if forced the other.

This creates a massive shear force into the junction of the low back and pelvis. It’s no coincidence this junction at the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae accounts for the clear majority of low back issues. So, part of preventing low back issues is reducing shear forces by stretching the psoas and hamstring muscles. Most of us know to stretch the hamstrings, simple toe touch style stretches we learned in school are usually sufficient. If we are having low back issues though, it is very important to not overstretch the low back.

One way to do this is by stretching the hamstrings by laying with your back on the floor and your legs up on a wall. This position will allow you to stretch without the low back being stressed. With your feet up, scoot your hips closer to the wall until you feel a hamstring stretch. Then hold until the muscles relax, then repeat. When your hips are all the way to the wall, your hamstrings will be stretched sufficiently.

Dr. Joseph Fraley D.C. is the owner of Alpha Omega Chiropractic, 106 Alpine Village Road. Contact Fraley at 575-258-5999.