How Sitting Ruins Our Lives in Little Falls, NJ

Hi, I’m Dr. Joann Giesenhaus. I want to demonstrate how seating—or sitting—has become the new smoking. I think we’ve all heard that phrase before, and there’s a reason behind it: the repetitive stress that constantly occurs in our low back.

Let me show you what I mean, because we all know—we do it! Today, we’re sitting more than ever. In fact, almost 80% of our lives are spent seated. That puts unbelievable pressure not only on the low back, but also on the mid back and neck.

How Sitting Affects the Spine

This is a model of the spine—neck, mid back, and low back. When we sit, especially for long periods, all of these areas are affected by the pressure we’re putting on them.

Think about how we sit at our workstation or computer. What do we tend to do?
We lean in, even though the monitor is this big, right? We still lean forward.

How about when we’re texting? Whether seated or standing, we tilt down, which puts tremendous strain—again—on the neck and low back.

This pressure compresses the disc spaces in the spine. Over time, that can lead to the discs wearing down, and the surrounding nerves being stretched or irritated.

What You Can Do

One of the most important things you can do is set a reminder to get up every 20 to 30 minutes. Walk around, stretch, and get the disc spaces moving, along with the muscles that support your spine.

If you don’t, the joints and discs begin to deteriorate. They lose shape, the discs start to thin, and that’s when we begin experiencing body signals—or what we refer to as dangerous vertebral subluxations.

This is just a brief overview of why sitting has become the new smoking. If you sit for long periods during the day, make small changes to protect your spine and nervous system. Take breaks, move often, and don’t ignore those signals your body sends.

Take care!