When you sit all day and your lower back hurts

What follows combines several people's visits into one reconstructed account. It is not any one person's story, and anything that could identify someone has been removed.

How do people describe it when they come in?

They spend most of the day at a desk, and now their lower back hurts and they've even started to feel pain shooting down their leg. They can't cut down on sitting, which makes it all the more frustrating.

They don't come in just to talk about their back. They also mention not sleeping until the small hours, frequent upset stomachs, and colds that won't go away. They come in with their whole body worn out.

Why is sitting hard on the lower back?

When you sit for a long time, the pelvis stiffens first. When the pelvis doesn't move, the lower back has to move in its place, and the strain builds up in one spot.

We also look at how you walk. If you walk with your buttocks pushed back, your weight isn't spread across the whole spine but piles onto one spot in the lower back.

What do we look at?

We check which way the pelvis is pushed, and which part doesn't move when you bend forward and straighten up. We also press on your abdomen.

There's a reason we look at the abdomen. People who have been tense for a long time have gas in the belly and a stiff body overall. In that state, even if we loosen only the back, it soon goes back to how it was.

We also ask about when you sleep and when you eat. Not getting enough sleep slows recovery itself.

How do we treat it?

We use Chuna to bring the pushed pelvis back into place, and give pharmacopuncture around the ligaments that hold the lower back, to build stability.

For people whose bodies are worn out, we also use herbal medicine. If heat has gathered in the upper body and digestion is sluggish, that needs sorting out first for the back treatment to take hold.

And we nag. Get up and stretch once an hour, and move your bedtime a little earlier — these two matter as much as what we do in the treatment room.

How did people do?

First, as the pelvis softens, tension in the lower back eases. Many people find their sleep and digestion improve along with it.

If you came in for your back but your sleep changed first, we tell you not to find it strange. When a body that was stuck "on" settles down, many things move together.

What are the limits of this approach?

As long as you can't cut down on sitting, care needs to continue. We tell you at the start that this isn't something that ends in one go.

If your legs get weak, your foot drags, or anything changes with your bladder or bowels, see an orthopedic doctor or neurosurgeon before coming to us.

If you have the same symptoms

1. When you sit a long time, the pelvis stiffens first and the lower back takes over its share.
2. We don't look only at the back; we look at how you walk and the state of your abdomen too.
3. Lack of sleep slows recovery — your bedtime is part of the treatment.
4. Getting up once an hour matters as much as what we do in the treatment room.
5. Leg weakness, a dragging foot, or bladder or bowel changes mean seeing that specialist first.

We start by measuring how far you can walk and how strong your legs are. We show you whether you're improving with numbers, not just feelings.

If you can't walk as far as you used to, come in and get measured. Just knowing how far you can walk right now changes the next decision.

Because there are many possible causes, progress differs from person to person, even with the same care.