On holidays, busy people seldom have a good rest, watch TV, play games, sit down and bend down unconsciously. He straightened up his waist as soon as he found out, but he bent down again after a while. Do we have to sit up straight to protect our waist? It's so comfortable to lie in a rocking chair. I won't feel backache and backache even if I lie in the chair all afternoon.

The question arises, since it is more comfortable to lie back than to sit straight, is sitting straight still the correct sitting posture? Let's look at the conclusion of scientific research.

　　 It is difficult to justify "sofa paralysis" in scientific experiments

A foreign professor named Wilke did an experiment. He found a 45 year old male volunteer, placed a pressure sensor in the nucleus pulposus tissue of the fourth and fifth lumbar intervertebral spaces, and measured the pressure of the intervertebral disc in different positions through the sensor.

The results of the experiment are as follows: When in the supine position, the pressure of the intervertebral disc is the smallest, only 0.1 MPa, which is conceivable; When sitting upright, that is, the sitting posture advocated by everyone, the pressure of intervertebral disc is 0.46 MPa; When you sit in a forward leaning position, that is, when you bend forward, the pressure of the intervertebral disc is 0.83 MPa.

thus it can be seen, When bending forward, the pressure on the intervertebral disc is about twice that when sitting upright, This is also what we expected.

However, the next value surprised us - the pressure of the intervertebral disc in the reclining position was 0.3 MPa, which was even less than that in the sitting position!

Isn't the reclining seat what we often call "sofa paralysis"? Have we really misunderstood it over the years?

Professor Wilke's experimental results are correct. The pressure on the waist caused by sitting in the reclining position is indeed the smallest among all sitting positions, but this does not mean that "sofa paralysis" does not hurt the waist!

There is a difference between "sofa paralysis" and reclining position. When the sofa is paralyzed, the back of the waist is suspended without support, The lumbar spine will change its original radian due to lack of sufficient support. This will increase the pressure on the intervertebral disc and accelerate the degeneration of the intervertebral disc. There is support behind the waist when you sit in a reclining position, so "leaning" is the key.

　　 The spine also has a favorite sitting position

Returning to the working scene, it is difficult for us to sit back and use computers. So, what is the correct sitting posture? Esther Gohale, a professor of Stanford University in the United States, has given a favorite sitting posture of the spine through research:

　　 Choose a seat with a back, sit back as far as possible, let your hips occupy the seat, and then let your back away from the back, naturally lean forward, "lengthen" the back, so that the spine has a tendency to extend upward, then relax your shoulders, and slowly push yourself back to the back. This is the favorite sitting posture of the spine.

On the basis of maintaining the above sitting posture, sedentary people can also put a cushion of appropriate size (or towel roll or clothes) at the same height of their back and navel, and then stretch their back to prevent the waist and back from hanging.

Finally, it should be noted that even if good sitting posture is maintained, sitting for a long time will still lead to backache, and will "sit for illness", many diseases are sitting out! It is suggested that you should always change your posture when working for a long time. You must get up and exercise for about an hour to relax your muscles.

But now we are under great pressure and working at a fast pace, so we may be too busy to get up. Let's introduce a sitting must kill artifact - "drink more water".

We can tolerate the backache after sitting for a long time, but after drinking more water, the bladder is "honest". Drinking more water must be diligent in the bathroom, while going to the bathroom must be active. Therefore, you must drink more water when working, and continue to drink after going to the bathroom. This cycle can force you to get up and walk every 1-2 hours. If your work station is far from the bathroom, congratulations. The time for exercise is longer.

Author: Wang Fengxian, Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Reviewed by: Liu Peilai, an expert of the National Health Science Popularization Expert Database and chief physician of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University

Planner: Zheng Yingfan, Wang Ning