Leg Positioning and Lower Back Pain

From the moment you wake up in the morning, you put a lot of strain on your legs. Even when you’re sitting, the position of your legs has a lot to do with how the rest of your body will react.

Think about it this way: any unnatural position, such as sitting with your legs crossed, can lead to lower back pain. Furthermore, and just as important, this will increase the likelihood of a more serious injury in the future.

With all this in mind, there are a few basic tips you can follow:

·      Always keep your hips above your knees. As you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that your hips and knees aren’t aligned. It can be a hard habit to break, but do your best to keep this alignment when sitting.

·      Stagger your stance. Do you find yourself standing more than sitting? In this case, you want to stagger your stance. In other words, keep one leg in front of the other.

·      Stretch at your desk. It can be extremely uncomfortable to sit at an office desk for eight hours per day. By the end of the day, your legs and back may be screaming in pain. You can protect against this by stretching at your desk. Doing this once every couple hours can have a positive impact on your health.

While there are many causes of lower back pain, you may soon find that your leg positioning is the culprit. Fortunately, it’s simple to change your approach and hopefully feel better as a result.

In the end, we suggest two things:

1. Pinpoint the cause of your pain.

2. Consider the many treatment strategies, including but not limited to acupuncture, spinal manipulation, physical therapy, and of course, minimally invasive surgery.