A new study from the University of Turku in Finland has found that reducing the time you spend sitting each day can help prevent back pain from getting worse.
The research, published in the journal BMJ Open, suggests that cutting down sitting time by about 40 minutes a day over six months can make a difference in back health.
The study involved middle-aged adults who were overweight or obese and spent most of their day sitting.
Participants managed to reduce their sitting time by an average of 40 minutes a day during the study.
According to Doctoral Researcher and Physiotherapist Jooa Norha, these participants had common risk factors for both cardiovascular disease and back pain, such as limited exercise and weight gain.
Although it’s easy to assume that sitting less would help with back pain, there hasn’t been much research to confirm this until now.
This new study provides important evidence that reducing sitting time can indeed prevent back pain from worsening.
The researchers also explored why reducing sitting might help with back pain, but they did not find a direct link between the decrease in back pain and changes in the muscles’ fat content or glucose metabolism.
People with back pain often have extra fat deposits in their back muscles and issues with glucose metabolism, but the study shows that back pain can improve even without changes in these factors.
To better understand back muscles, the researchers used advanced imaging methods like MRI and PET scans. Despite not finding significant changes in muscle composition, they still concluded that sitting less helps improve back health.
Norha advises that if you’re concerned about back pain from sitting too much, you should find ways to reduce sitting time during work or leisure.
However, simply standing up is not enough—being physically active, like walking or doing more vigorous exercise, is even better. Lastly, the researchers emphasize that frequently changing your posture is more important than trying to find the “perfect” posture.
If you care about pain, please read studies about vitamin K deficiency linked to hip fractures in old people, and these vitamins could help reduce bone fracture risk.
For more information about wellness, please see recent studies that Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people, and eating yogurt linked to lower frailty in older people.
Source: University of Turku.
