Why does sitting less reduce back pain?

A new study from the University of Turku (Finland), compiled by Ep, found that Reducing the amount of time you spend sitting each day will prevent your back pain from getting worse within six months. The result strengthens the current understanding of the relationship between activity and back pain, as well as the mechanisms associated with back pain.

It’s intuitively easy to assume that reducing sitting time will help combat back pain, but evidence from previous studies is surprisingly sparse. A study carried out by the Turku PET Center and the UKK Institute in Finland examined whether reducing daily sitting could prevent or alleviate e.g.Back pain in overweight or obese adults who spend most of the day sitting. Over the six-month study, participants were able to reduce the time they spent sitting by an average of 40 minutes per day.

“Our participants were completely normal middle-aged adults who spent a lot of time sitting, did little exercise and became overweight. These factors not only increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but also back pain,” says the researcher. researcher and physiotherapist Jooa Norha from the University of Turku (Finland). Previous findings from the same research group and others suggest that sitting may be harmful to back health, but the evidence is preliminary.

Researchers have also explored possible mechanisms for preventing back pain. “However, we did not observe that changes in back pain were associated with changes in adiposity or glucose metabolism in the back muscles,” Nora says.

People with back pain have excessive fat deposits in their back muscles, and poor glucose metabolism or insulin sensitivity may predispose them to pain. However, back pain can be prevented or alleviated even if it does not occur. improvement of muscle composition or metabolism. The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and radiotracer PET images to measure the back muscles.

“If you are prone to back pain or sit too much and are concerned about the health of your back, you can try to find ways to reduce the time you spend sitting at work or during leisure. However, this is important. Keep in mind that physical activity for example, walking or faster exercise is better than just standing,” says Nora.