The Mayo Clinic’s chair of the Division of Orthopedic Spine Surgery, Dr. Brett Freedman recently stated in the Mayo Clinic Health Letter, “our spines weren’t designed for us to be sitting for hours at a time.” The amount of sitting in our culture has played a very significant role in the occurrence of low back pain. It’s only gotten worse since the covid-19 pandemic.
Limiting the amount of sitting one does on a daily basis is probably the simplest first step that can be taken to lessen the chance of a back injury. If your job calls for a lot of computer time, use a stand-up desk. On the phone a lot? Stand up and walk around while on the phone. Binging your favorite show? Get up between every episode (if not more frequently!). These simple little actions can prevent some serious issues.