Stop Back and Neck Pain from Long Sitting- Desk, Trains, Planes, Cars, Buses, Computers, Internet Cafe, and TV

Long sitting can result in upper and lower back pain. But it doesn't have to. Most lists of instructions for sitting without hurting your back tell you to sit in exact ways at exact angles. Instead, this article will show you the concepts of how and why strain and injury occur when sitting so that you can sit in healthy ways that are comfortable and easy.

Why Is Slouching Bad?
Sitting with a rounded back does several things to cause injury and pain. Rounding forward (slouching) when sitting holds the muscles in a longer than normal position, which weakens them. It also slowly degenerates your discs, the little cushions between your back bones (vertebrae), and pushes the discs outward to the back. This is how discs herniate, also called a slipped disc. A slipped disc can bulge outward enough to press on nearby nerves, sending pain down your leg. This is called sciatica. This is easy to prevent.
A problem is that many kinds of seats have a round (concave) back. It's common to sit in these round chairs and allow your back to round to fit the round chair back.
Worse, many people not only round into the chair back but round further by hunching forward of the chair or putting a pillow behind their head which only pushes the head further forward.
Another common way to hurt your back sitting is to sit toward the middle of the chair, and create a "hammock" out of your spine, sagging between the buttock and the upper back. Your body weight presses down on your low back discs.
Simple Pain Prevention
Instead of sitting forward in your chair, move your hip all the way to the back of the chair, and lean back in comfort. If the chair back is rounded, put a small cushion in the space between your low back and the chair, to preserve healthy normal back posture instead of assuming the curved posture of the chair.
Making a Lumbar Roll
To feel the right size for a lumbar roll, sit back in a chair and nestle your forearm behind you in the natural lumbar space between your low back and the chair. Lightly press your upper back against the chair so that the low back does not press your arm, but rests lightly. It should feel comfortable. Your forearm is usually about the right size for a lumbar roll.

Many things can work for a lumbar roll. There are commercially available rolls including inflatable ones that pack flat. When traveling you can use many common soft items. Try a small folded towel, shirt, or gloves. Fold your jacket, just enough to be the size you want. Commercial lumbar rolls are usually a roll of foam. If it is too large, it will not be comfortable. You can cut a roll lengthwise

Using the Lumbar Roll - Lean Back, Not Forward
Don't use a lumbar roll that feels too large. It will be uncomfortable. If you fell like it is sticking you in the back check to make sure you aren't rounding against it, or that it isn't too large, or extending too high or low on your back. Lift your upper back against the chair instead of pressing against the roll. Don't force into unnaturally straight or arched posture. Keep head up, not tilted or craned forward.
Long Sitting When Driving
- Use a lumbar roll, described above, if needed.
- Sit with your hip at the back of the seat, not the middle.
- Move the seat in. People often sit with the chair so far back that they round forward to reach the steering wheel. Move your seat in closer. Tilt the seat slightly backward. Sit up and lean back against the seat, instead of craning and rounding. A bonus to moving the car seat forward is that by sitting back instead of reaching forward, your chest and face are farther from the airbag, said to be safer.

Long Sitting at Your Desk
- Use a lumbar roll, described above, if needed.
- Sit with your hip all the way against the back of the chair.
- Move the seat in and sit closer to the desk so you can sit up instead of hunching forward.
- Put the monitor up on a book, block, or shelf. Use an external keyboard for laptops.
Long Sitting for Buses and Flights
Commercial airline, bus and train seats are often rounded, encouraging prolonged, forced rounding.
- Use two pillows, one in the natural curve of your low back, and the second above that one for your upper back, in the space still left by the rounded seat. Sit upright and lean back to rest the back of your head against the head rest.
- Flights sometimes have a video message encouraging in-seat stretching. Often the advice is forward bending. That is the last thing you need after sitting bent forward for so long. Instead, stretch your back and shoulders backward, not forward. Pull your chin in while leaning back. Breathe.

Sitting for Relaxing
Instead of sitting rounded in soft chairs and couches, use a pillow or other cushiony object to pad the space between the normal inward curve of your low back and the chair.
Don't Forget To Get Up
No matter how well you sit, it's still a lot of bending at the hip. Many people get shortened muscles at the hip from this. Short, tight hip muscles add their own posture and achy hip and back pain problems. Stand up and straighten out. Tip your hip under you to straighten it from the bent "behind-stuck-out" position.

Another nice stretch to straighten out after house chores or exercise is to lie face down and prop up on elbows. Don't pinch or crane your back or neck, just gently stretch the entire spine and hip the other way.
No Strange Rules
It is common to hear that you must sit at 90 degree angles or hold your thighs parallel to the floor, or other strange, strict rules about positioning your arms or legs.

Don't worry about exact angles. Get the concepts, then you can keep healthy posture while you go about your life. Most important - don't sit frozen in place. Movement is important for joint health. Joints don't have much blood flow. They get nutrition in and waste out by physical movement. Move freely in your chair instead of sitting still for hours at a time.

Sit in healthy position whether the chair has straight back, a round back or no back. You are the one to determine your positioning. Keep it simple. Sit preserving the small inward curve of your back and you will prevent injury and get up after long sitting with straight happy position and no pain.