Covid 19’s seismic thrust of our planet into a hyper-connected, tech-driven age has offered more opportunities, freedom and flexibility to workers than ever before. However, it has also given rise to something shocking: the ever-expanding issue of backpain.
It’s the pandemic within a pandemic.
Sedentariness: the new normal
Since the rise of the remote revolution, the sofa and kitchen table have become the new office, and workers are racking up countless hours sitting in unnatural and unhealthy positions. With little reason to leave this workspace throughout the day, and with endless hours of slouching, hunching and slumping in chairs, it is no surprise that societies are now plagued with more spine-related problems than ever before.
Poor posture and backache are the new normal; they come part and parcel of the modern, digital age we find ourselves in. In 2016, prior to the dramatic change caused by Covid-19, it was revealed that ‘back pain is the largest single cause of disability in the UK, with lower back pain alone accounting for 11% of the total disability of the UK population’ (NHS England).
Back pain has been a ticking time bomb for a long time: it has finally detonated.
Why sitting is harming your back and your wellbeing
It is widely admitted nowadays that sitting is the new smoking. Spending endless hours with glutes glued to a chair welcomes a whole host of risks to both your physical and mental health. Let’s take a closer look.
Did you know that sitting can actually shorten your lifespan?
This shocking fact was revealed by the Mayo Clinic. It was found that people who sat for over eight hours a day with little or no physical activity had an equal risk of chronic health issues and premature death than those linked to long-term obesity and smoking.
Indeed, on top of chronic backpain by putting huge strain on your spine, excessive sitting gives rise to obesity, high blood pressure, sky-rocketing cholesterol levels, metabolic issues and blood clots.
When you sit for too long, your mental wellbeing suffers too. Most of the time, this happens right under your nose, without you even realising it.
We’re all familiar with that feeling after a long day at the office: we feel low, sluggish, agitated, unproductive, and even a bit dazed. The frightening thing is, experts suggest that the negative effects of excessive sitting are so profound that not even the positive impact of exercise can override them.
Sitting down for hours on end day after day will have a noticeable impact on your life: your body, mind, career, relationships, all of it, and not in a good way.
It’s time to take a stand against back pain
So how do we avoid it? How do we stop back pain from stealing our joy and ruining our lives? The antidote is a rather simple one: take a stand (literally).
Find out how you can prevent a lifetime of back pain by reading ‘Don’t Be a Victim: Ways to Tackle the Ever-Growing Back Pain Pandemic’. This is your guide to a brighter, happier, more productive future.