The Importance of Proper Sitting, Sleeping, and Standing Between Adjustments
The new year is the time to reflect on what hasn’t worked this far and to make some changes to get to the best version of you!
Advanced Biostructural Correction (ABC) is an incredibly effective method for improving spinal health, relieving pain, and promoting overall well-being. However, Chiropractic care is just one piece of the puzzle. In order to maximise the benefits of your care it’s essential that you support your spine in between treatments.
Whether you’re sitting, sleeping, or standing, your body’s positioning plays a significant role in the healing process. In this blog, I will discuss why maintaining good posture and body mechanics in everyday life is vital for the success and longevity of your spinal health. I have included research to highlight how detrimental what you do outside of treatment can be on your body and why adjustments alone cannot get you well or support your long-term healing.
The Role of Posture in Spinal Health
Spinal health goes hand-in-hand with posture. Poor posture is one of the most common contributors to back pain, neck pain, headaches, and other spinal-related issues.
Whether you’re sitting at a desk for long hours, standing improperly, or sleeping in poor positions on unsupportive surfaces, you are putting undue stress on your spine.
These bad lifestyle habits can lead to unnecessary tension, misalignments, and discomfort.
The reality is that the habits you’ve developed throughout your life have contributed to the spinal dysfunctions you experience today. Poor posture, improper body mechanics, and what you do day to day have all played a part in creating the issues you’re now seeking to correct.
It’s unrealistic to think that a single adjustment will solve the problems that years of poor posture have created. If the problem lies in your environment outside of treatment and is being re-created, you cannot be adjusted out of it.
That’s why it’s crucial to make a conscious effort to be proactive in improving your external environment to support your improved posture after an adjustment . Below I have outlined the researched effects of day-to-day life in poor positions.
Sitting:
Our bodies are not designed to be in a seated position for extended periods of time. Unfortunately in the modern world it’s somewhat unavoidable for work, with one study finding people sit for an average of 10.4 hours per day (1).
If you can’t avoid being sat, you are in control of how well you support yourself and your posture throughout those 10 unavoidable hours per day.
The negative effects of sitting poorly have been well researched.
Not only is prolonged sitting an independent risk factor for conditions such as coronary and metabolic disease or even mortality, there are also day to day effects to your overall structure.
Poor posture, particularly slumping, slouching, or leaning forward in a chair changes the way weight and forces are distributed across the spine. This can lead to increased pressure on spinal discs creating a cascade of degeneration. This leads to disc herniations, facet (joint) arthritis and stenosis. Overtime, sitting leads to muscular imbalance, change or even reversal of the natural curves of the spine. This can lead to further postural dysfunctions and long-term pain, as the spine’s ability to distribute forces evenly is compromised. (2,3,4)
- Increased low back pain
- chronic pain
- Spinal curve change
- Spinal degeneration
- Muscle imbalance
- Disc degeneration
Sleeping:
You spend 1/3rd of your life in your bed. If your bed is negatively impacting your spinal health, adjustments will not act as a long term solution if the problem is continuously recreated.
Having a mattress or pillow that does not support you leads to increased pain. But it also causes disturbed sleep quality which results in tiredness, reduced tolerance to stress and even chronic illness.
But let’s focus on the body change.
Sleeping on a soft mattress allows your body to twist in the night, creating complex compensation patterns that fix your body in poor positions. This loads your spinal discs, joints and overtime changes or reverses your spines natural curves. (5,6,7)
- Reduced sleep quality
- Increased pain
- Spinal curve change and deformity
- Spinal disc and joint degeneration
- Worsening of pre-existing conditions
Standing:
Footwear that constricts your feet or pushes them into unnatural positions affects your balance, gait and ultimately your overall structural stability. This pushes your body into twists and faulty positions to compensate.
The longer you live life and move in these positions and footwear, the worse the effects become as you load your body and joints unevenly. This can cause progressive degeneration and imbalance in the body, leading to chronic discomfort.
Barefoot shoes encourage the foot and lower limb to use sensory feedback to maintain natural stability. This allows the body to release the compensations that are created or being held in place by the poor footwear.
Conventional shoes with excessive cushioning, arch support, and a narrow toe box can cause various dysfunctions and imbalances over time (8,9):
- Reduced foot flexibility and mobility
- Foot deformities
- Reduced sensory feedback
- Spinal misalignments and instability
- Impaired gait
- Increased pain
Take Action: Small Changes Lead to Big Results
Chiropractic care is only truly effective when paired with healthy habits that support spinal health. Whether you’re sitting, standing, or sleeping, maintaining proper posture will keep your body aligned, reduce pain, and prevent further damage.
The good news is that making small adjustments in your daily life can lead to big improvements. You don’t need to overhaul your entire routine to support your spine. Simple changes, such as sitting on a chair that supports you, standing in flexible flat shoes, and sleeping on a firm supportive mattress, will have a profound impact on how quickly you recover from spinal issues and how well you maintain long-term health.
If you have questions or need tips on proper posture and body mechanics, feel free to explore our other blog posts. We’re here to support your healing journey.
References
- Corliss, J. 2024. How much do you sit, stand, and move each day? [online] Harvard Health. Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/how-much-do-you-sit-stand-and-move-each-day.
- Kett, A.R., Milani, T.L. and Sichting, F. 2021. Sitting for Too Long, Moving Too Little: Regular Muscle Contractions Can Reduce Muscle Stiffness During Prolonged Periods of Chair-Sitting.Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3(760533). doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2021.760533.
- Jung, K.-S., Jung, J.-H., In, T.-S. and Cho, H.-Y. 2020. Effects of prolonged sitting with slumped posture on trunk muscular fatigue in adolescents with and without chronic lower back pain.Medicina, [online] 57(1), p.3. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57010003.
- Billy, G.G., Lemieux, S.K. and Chow, M.X. 2014. Lumbar Disc Changes Associated with Prolonged Sitting.PM & R : the journal of injury, function, and rehabilitation, [online] 6(9), pp.790–795. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmrj.2014.02.014.
- Hong, T.T.-H., Wang, Y., Wong, D.W.-C., Zhang, G., Tan, Q., Chen, T.L.-W. and Zhang, M. 2022. The Influence of Mattress Stiffness on Spinal Curvature and Intervertebral Disc Stress—An Experimental and Computational Study.Biology, [online] 11(7), p.1030. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11071030.
- Caggiari, G., Talesa, G.R., Toro, G., Jannelli, E., Monteleone, G. and Puddu, L. 2021. What type of mattress should be chosen to avoid back pain and improve sleep quality? Review of the literature.Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, 22(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s10195-021-00616-5.
- Corliss, J. 2022.What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency? [online] National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Available at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation.
- Franklin, S. et al. 2015. Barefoot vs common footwear: A systematic review of the kinematic, kinetic and muscle activity differences during walking, Gait & posture, 42(3), pp. 230–239. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2015.05.019.
- Shakoor, N. et al. 2010. Effects of common footwear on joint loading in osteoarthritis of the knee. Arthritis care & research, 62(7), pp. 917–923. doi: 10.1002/acr.20165.
