Learn More About Low Back Pain and Sitting Here

How Does Sitting Cause Lower Back Pain?

Pressure on Lumbar Discs from sitting!

Pain can arise from the joints, muscles and nerves in the lower back. Sitting can become problematic for multiple reasons. The pressure placed on the discs in the lower back are highest during sitting. This increase in pressure can irritate discs that are bulged or herniated, and cause aggravation of the nerves associated with those spinal levels.

Lumbar Muscle Spasm and pain!

Prolonged sitting can also cause muscle spasm that can lead to pain. The increased strain placed on the spine can bother many muscles in the lower back, including the QL and the lumbar paraspinal musculature. When the body is inactive and the muscles do not move, they can spasm and cramp. Sitting for longer than an hour keeps the muscles inactive and they can start feeling tight. Prolonged positions are not good for our muscles – our bodies were made to move – so taking frequent breaks to stand, walk or stretch is very important!

Pain From Sitting All Day? See How Oakville Chiropractic can help!

Tight Hip Flexors from sitting too much!

Sitting can also cause lower back pain by causing the muscles in the front to be in a shortened position. The hip flexor muscles include the psoas muscle an the rectus femurs (one of the four quad muscles). The psoas muscle attaches to every level of the lumbar spine and into the inside aspect of the upper thigh. The rectus femoris muscle attaches from the front of the pelvis into the knee. When the hips are flexed (as they are with sitting) the hip flexor muscles are in a shortened position. Standing up causes these muscles to lengthen, and if they’ve gotten too comfortable in a short position they can spasm and cause discomfort in the lower back.

Check Out Our Hip Flexor Stretches Here

Stretches for Lower Back Pain From Sitting

Glute Stretches for low back pain.

Laying on your back and pulling your knees in towards your chest can feel great after a prolonged period of sitting.  This movement helps to pull the spine into the opposite direction as sitting.  It helps to lengthen the muscles of the lower back and glutes (which are often sources of lower back pain!)

Hip Flexor Stretches for back pain!

Sitting keeps our hip flexor muscles in a shortened position.  When these muscles are short, and then we try to stand up, they can become very uncomfortable and cause lower back pain.  Hip flexor stretching should be a consistent part of a stretching routine for any person who sits at a desk all day! 

Exercises for Lower Back Pain From Sitting!

Cat Cow for low back pain from sitting!

These classic yoga poses help to keep the spine mobile.  After sitting all day, it is so important to get the spine moving.  These simple exercises help to improve mobility through the lower back, and encourage movement in a safe way!

Find More Chiropractor Approved Core Exercises Here

Plank – to strengthen your core!

The plank is a classic core exercise that can be modified from beginner to advanced levels.  The plank exercise activates the deep core musculature and helps to build a strong and stable core.  Strong core musculature is the key to protecting and stabilizing the lower back and helping prevent lower back pain. 

How To Prevent Lower Back Pain From Sitting

1. Proper Chair – your spine will thank you for investing in an ergonomic chair.  Supporting your lower back properly while you sit can make a world of difference!  Everybody is different, so trying the chair before you buy is always a good idea.  Find a chair that is adjustable, so that it can be tuned to fit you! Desk ergonomics are so important!
2. Take Breaks!  This is so important.  Sitting for 6-8 hours a day is not healthy for your lower back.  You need to take breaks.  Get up.  Stand.  Go for a short walk.  Set a timer on your phone if you need to be reminded to move!
3. Build a Strong Core – Strengthening is the best way to keep our lower backs healthy.  Maintaining strong core musculature helps to protect the lower back, even when it is in a vulnerable position (like prolonged sitting!)

Book A Chiropractic Appointment

Lower back pain will affect 80% of people at some point in their lifetime.  Acupuncture for lower back pain at our Oakville clinic is one of the more effective treatments we have to help!  Lower back pain can range from an annoying ache to a full-blown disabling pain.  Some low back pain stays focused in the lower back, while other lower back pains can radiate into the legs.  Pain can be dull and achy, or it can feel like a hot poker is being jabbed into your back.  One of the most effective treatments for the wide spectrum of lower back pain is acupuncture.

How Does Acupuncture in Oakville Help Lower Back Pain?

There are a number of ways that acupuncture can influence pain in the lower back.  Inserting needles into the affected areas of the low back helps to improve blood flow, and therefore promotes healing.  Acupuncture can help reduce muscle tension and release painful trigger points.  Acupuncture can dampen pain by helping to stimulate endorphins, which are the body’s natural pain killers. Acupuncture also helps to reduce inflammation, which is often a big contributor to pain.

Questions about Acupuncture in Oakville? Check out our Acupuncture FAQS

Acupuncture Treatment for Lower Back Pain: The Muscles

In an Acupuncture For Lower Back Pain Treatment, the acupuncture needles are inserted along the spine to affect the nerves as they exit the spinal cord.  These nerves travel all the way to the feet innervating the muscles of the lower back, glutes and legs.  By targeting the nerves as they leave the spinal cord we can affect areas much further away from the spine, even as far as the feet!  Acupuncture is one of the only conservative treatments that can directly impact the nerves.  This is helpful because our nerves are what carry our pain signals and activate our muscles!

Inserting needles into the glutes is an amazing way to release muscle tension and decrease pain.  Oftentimes, weak and/or tight glute muscles can exacerbate back pain and acupuncture can help!  Acupuncture can stimulate and ‘wake-up’ the nerves, leading to more effective muscle activation, decreased pain and less dysfunction of the lower back and pelvis. Whether the muscles are too tight or too weak, acupuncture can help.  How amazing is that!?

Another muscle that is easily treated by acupuncture is the QL.  The Quadratus Lumborum muscle is often a source of pain for many patients with lower back issues. Tightness in this muscle can cause pain in the low back, or top of the buttock.  A tight QL muscle can also start to impact the lower back vertebra, or the sacroiliac joint.  Dr. Jenn can use acupuncture to loosen up this muscle, and help restore function to the surrounding joints.

Another problematic muscle that is the culprit of many patients with low back pain is the Psoas Muscle or hip flexor. Our acupuncture team has seen a rise in painful hip flexors since more and more people work from home and sit for most of the day.  The seated position creates a short hip flexor muscle, and can lead to painful spasms.  Acupuncture treatment will use acupuncture needles to loosen up the hip flexors that get tight from sitting all day!

Acupuncture for Low Back Pain:  The Joints

Lower back pain can be caused by the facet joint of the lumbar spine if they become stuck or stiff.  When these joints become dysfunctional, the the nerves of the spine, which exit the spinal canal in very close proximity to these joints, can also be affected.  A ‘stuck’ joint can therefore cause pain in the low back, or pain anywhere along that specific nerve pathway. Acupuncture treatments to those areas can help decrease the sensitivity of the pain causing structures (the joint) and decrease the resulting inflammation around the nerves.  This leads to a great reduction of pain!

The sacroiliac joints are the big joints that join the pelvis to the sacrum (the bottom of your spine).  These joints can be incredibly painful when they are restricted.  Acupuncture treatment to these joints, and the surrounding musculature that attaches into the joints, provide a great amount of relief and restoration of function.

Electroacupuncture for Lower Back Pain:

Acupuncture for lower back pain is highly effective.  If you add a current through selected needles, it can take the acupuncture for lower back pain to the next level.  Electroacupuncture is a modern variation of traditional acupuncture, where a gentle, consistent current is applied to the needles in order to boost the therapeutic effect.  The procedure involves hooking up a few needles to a current via tiny alligator clamps.  Dr Jenn describes the stimulation as feeling like a small pulse, or heartbeat, in the muscles.  It feels pleasant and had the potential to amplify the healing response.

If you’re experiencing acute or chronic lower back pain, acupuncture can help you!  Come visit us at Nottinghill Family Wellness and ask Dr. Jenn, how acupuncture can get rid of your back pain.  Call us at 905-827-4197 to start acupuncture for lower back pain today.

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