November 2006

Sitting up straight can cause back pain

Asking your patients if they spend long hours sitting up straight may help you treat their back pain faster. According to a study conducted at Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen, Scotland, sitting up straight for extended amounts of time places unnecessary strain on the back, leading to potentially chronic pain problems.

At the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), researchers presented the study in which they used a form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show that “a 135-degree body-thigh sitting posture was demonstrated to be the best biomechanical sitting position, as opposed to a 90-degree posture, which most people consider normal,” said Waseem Amir Bashir, MBChB, FRCR, author and clinical fellow in the Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging at the University of Alberta Hospital, Canada. “Sitting in a sound anatomic position is essential, since the strain put on the spine and its associated ligaments over time can lead to pain, deformity, and chronic illness.”

Three different sitting positions were tested: a slouching position, an upright 90-degree position, and a “relaxed” position — reclined backward 135 degrees while feet remain on the floor. Measurements were taken of spinal angles and spinal disk height and movement across the different positions.

Spinal disk movement occurs when weight-bearing strain is placed on the spine, causing the internal disk material to misalign. Disk movement was most pronounced with a 90-degree upright sitting posture. It was least pronounced with the 135-degree posture, indicating that less strain is placed on the spinal disks and associated muscles and tendons in a more relaxed sitting position.

The slouch position revealed a reduction in spinal disk height, signifying a high rate of wear and tear on the lowest two spinal levels. Across all measurements, the researchers concluded that the 135-degree position fared the best. As a result, Bashir and colleagues advise people to stave off future back problems by correcting their sitting posture and finding a chair that allows them to sit in an optimal position of 135 degrees.

“This may be all that is necessary to prevent back pain, rather than trying to cure pain that has occurred over the long term due to bad postures,” he added.

Source: Radiological Society of North America, www.rsna.org

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