Sitting Properly in Bethesda

If you work in an office, you probably sit for about six to seven hours each day. You also sit in the car and you sit down for lunch, dinner, and maybe some television once you go home from work. This can bring the total up to ten hours each day of sitting.

Do You Think About How You Sit?

You need to take a good look at how you’re sitting as this in important. Here are some things you need to think about as you sit. Look at this checklist and see if you’re doing things correctly:
Sitting Checklist

• Make sure you sit with your legs uncrossed and the ankles need to be in front of your knees
• Have the feet flat on the floor and use a foot rest if your feet don’t touch the floor
• The knees need to be lower than the hips and you don’t want the back of your knees touching your seat
• If you have a seat with an adjustable backrest use this to support the arch in your back. If there’s no backrest, invest in one or ask your employer to get you one
• Each hour you need to get up and move around for a bit. You should shift your position as this will help the back. It can be as simple as standing to make a phone call

Why You Need Good Sitting Posture

Good posture is just as important for your health as caring for your teeth, for example. If you develop good habits now, these will be harder to break later on and you’ll benefit from this.
If you have a good sitting posture you reduce the strain and stress on ligaments. These ligaments hold the joints together so if you stress the ligaments there can be joint injuries. If you have a good sitting posture you’ll also have less muscle fatigue. Muscles that work well will use less energy and you won’t feel as tired. If you perform poor movement over and over again this can lead to joint pain as well as arthritis later in life.

Chiropractic Care for Poor Posture

Chiropractic care aims to realign your posture through mobilization and strengthening techniques. Remember that your posture is the position that your body naturally fall into when sitting or standing for long periods. The goal of chiropractic is to teach your body how to sit with the proper posture without you having to be conscious of it. Only when your posture is corrected naturally will you see long term benefits.

Adults generally agree that posture is important, but don’t really think about it much. During the next 30 days, try to think about your posture and do what you can to correct it. 30 days should be enough time to correct old habits and develop new ones. Use the checklist above to help you. Look at the list each day and compare your habits to the ones on the list and work on areas you need to improve on. If you do this, you’ll have improved musculoskeletal health. Call Montgomery County Chiropractic at (301) 907-6533 today to schedule an appointment.