Are you wondering if the discomfort and pain you are feeling is caused by sitting for a long time.
Sitting for too long while at work, at home or in any kind of environment has become a growing health concern.
And there is prolonged evidence that prolonged sitting periods can be associated with musculoskeletal disorders, unless you are a wheelchair user.
Happy reading!😃
Any questions? remarks? Let’s meet in the comments section at the end of this article.🙏
Last updated: Journey 2025. Written by Juliet Semakula, a diagnostic.
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Summary: Sitting for prolonged periods of time can be a major cause of back pain, increased stress of the back, neck, arms and legs and can add a tremendous amount of pressure to the back muscles and spinal discs.
The question is: what can you do to help with the discomfort?
So, in this article I will examine the medical research literature to help answer your questions.
And I will base on the most frequently questions from internet users typing sitting too long pain
Numbers from PubMed research articles
▶️What kind of described pain do internet users normally type into google
Here are some of the locations of pains internet users normally ask about.
♦Pain in the buttocks or bum.
♦Pain in the lower back
♦Pain in the legs.
♦Hip pain
♦Anus
♦Coccyx
♦Abdomen
♦Knee
♦Muscle pain
♦Sciatic nerve.
♦Neck and head pain
♦Wrist pain depending on how you are sitting.
Source: google search results
I believe any of us reading this article has experienced pain from sitting too long even in the uncommon places!
▶️Why do we experience pain when sitting for too long?
The most common source of lower back pain is poor sitting posture for a long time.
Here are a few reasons that explain why you feel discomfort after sitting for more than an hour or more.
🟡When we sit down, we put the whole weight on the lower back, so pressure on the intervertebral discs can cause us pain.
🟡Muscles often stiffen when you sit for too long and you can feel the pain more when you try to stand up.
🟡Sometimes nerves around the bottom and spine tend to compress the blood vessels.
🟡Less people complain of neck pain because as you sit you are often moving your neck, it’s not in one position like sitting on your bum.
All these reasons also apply when staying in other positions such as lying on one side or standing for prolonged periods. Because of limited research most evidence is based on observational studies
What are the most common pains related to sitting for too long?
♦Sciatica pain can be around your hip, shoulders and leg
♦Herniated disc on the spine.
♦Muscle strain.
♦Degenerative disc disease/ osteoarthritis.
♦Spinal stenosis.
♦Poor posture.
♦Not being in shape.
It’s important to determine the causes of your pain before you find a proper approach on how to deal with it.
▶️How can you recognise that your back pain is due to sitting and not something else.
You must be honest with yourself, you can do this by trying to assess and answer the following questions.
1️⃣Has the pain evolved gradually?
2️⃣Are you slumping behind your desk
3️⃣Is your chair ergonomic
4️⃣Are you living an inactive lifestyle?
The answer to these questions may help you provide the right answer.
For many of us work means hours and hours of sitting for longer periods of time. To some people it has become a routine part of adult life.
But what do people who sit for a longer time and research say about it?
Sitting or lying down for too long increases your risk of chronic health problems. And some people claim that too much sitting can also be bad for your mental health.
Here are some of the side effects of sitting too long.
♦️Vascular problems
♦️Lower back pain and spine issues.
♦️Heart disease
♦️Weight gain and obesity
♦️Extra weight is a cancer risk
▶️What does research say about sitting for a long time:
Japan findings: A study done in Japan assessed the relationship between the introduction of a sit–stand desk.
The study aimed to show its ability to reduce the negative effects of sitting too long and increase employees’ general health and productivity (Ma 2021)
Using a randomized controlled trial, the participants were divided into intervention (n = 36) and control (n = 38) groups
The assessment was done by measuring their health, work related and psychical activities on sit-stand desk
Between the two groups, those who had reduced their sitting down at 30 minutes at work, reported reduced neck and shoulder pain.
A significant increase in subjective health, vitality in work-related engagement, and self-rated work performance over a 4-week period.
There was the effectiveness of a sit–stand desk in reducing sedentary behaviour and improving workers’ health and productivity.
Also, another research identified too much sitting being associated by cardio-metabolic risk biomarkers, type 2 diabetes and premature mortality (Dunstan,2012)
In a sample of 64 office workers who sit for work, 3/4 described occasional or chronic lower back pain (Bontrup 2019).
A study done in Danish workers of over 625 people, more sitting time at work was associated with a favourable development of pain intensity over time.
▶️Will these pains persist over time?
We are normally concerned about the immediate pain we feel when seated for a long time.
But I have had some people wonder if this can be a long-term chronic pain.
Research on this topic is inconclusive, it is uncertain whether prolonged sitting increases the risk of developing chronic lower back pain.
Prolonged sitting may not necessarily lead to long term back pain lasting for several months.
To avoid the discomfort, you must invest in better furniture, and memory foam back lumbar pillows. Different back lumbar support are found on Amazon or you can get them in any shop.
Try to fix your sitting pasture and keep simple movements to help with blood circulation and back muscles, reduce weight if you need to.
You can also use heating pads on the affected area sometimes it helps with pain and easing the discomfort.
If pain persists you can seek medical advice from a medical professional who has experience in treating people who have suffered from lower back pain from sitting.
If you can afford it, you can get some physiotherapy. They help with any kind of pain, a good massage and rest will be ideal.
▶️What can you do to avoid pain when sitting for long periods?
This will depend on the origin of the discomfort, if it’s only caused by sitting for too long the course of action is straightforward.
You do not have to have long hours at the gym, you just need some simple and comfortable moves to help with your back, spine and legs.
You need to find a reason to get up after sitting for 30 minutes to an hour, the key to everything must be movement.
Here are some of the things I do every 30 or more minutes of sitting down for too long. Images showing different actions.
1️⃣I stand up and raise my hands over my head for a few seconds, then sit back.
2️⃣I sit on a pillow to extend my knees a little more than I would just sitting in the chair, eliminating some of my crouches.
3️⃣I stand back arch, lean my shoulders backward and push my hips forward gently. Then I can take a walk to the toilet and then make a cup of tea.
4️⃣For easing your neck pain, find time throughout the day to stretch your neck, avoid sitting in an arch position all the time.
4️⃣Avoid sitting in an arch position especially if you are sitting on a stool.
Gently engage your front abdominal muscle, the transverse abdominis and the muscles in your lower back. That will bring blood and circulate blood .
▶️How long is too long for sitting?
Most research that analysed sitting time and activity levels concluded that sitting for more than 8 hours a day with no physical activity was a risk to your health. Even when you were not overweight or had other health issues.
Overall, research seems to point to the fact that less sitting and more moving contribute to better health.
You may start by simply standing rather than sitting when you have the chance. This then answers your next question.
▶️Why can’t I barely walk after sitting all day?
Sitting for a long time can lead to muscle stiffness in your legs because blood flow is restricted or slowed down.
This is because your muscles need oxygen and nutrients to function properly.
That’s why even in our normal life, it is always recommended to keep active with cardiovascular exercises such as walking, jogging, cycling and swimming to help improve circulation and be beneficial for our general health.
Summary: What you must understand, it’s not just about sitting. If that was the case, almost everyone would have back pain problems.
It’s sitting in an improper chair, sitting for too long, sitting in an unhealthy position, as well as ignoring these problems for far too long.
While there are a lot of things that you can do to treat this problem, prevention is always the best course of action.
Being aware of the hazards of these lifestyles and career choices is the first step towards a pain-free future.
Wishing you good luck🙋 as you adjust your sitting lifestyle, keep healthy in everything you do.
📚Source:
Kett AR, Milani TL, Sichting F. Sitting for Too Long, Moving Too Little: Regular Muscle Contractions Can Reduce Muscle Stiffness During Prolonged Periods of Chair-Sitting. Front Sports Act Living. 2021 Nov 3;3:760533. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2021.760533. PMID: 34805980; PMCID: PMC8595117.
Ma J, Ma D, Li Z, Kim H. Effects of a Workplace Sit-Stand Desk Intervention on Health and Productivity. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 4;18(21):11604. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111604. PMID: 34770116; PMCID: PMC8582919.
Dunstan DW, Howard B, Healy GN, Owen N. Too much sitting–a health hazard. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2012 Sep;97(3):368-76. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2012.05.020. Epub 2012 Jun 9. PMID: 22682948.
Carolin Bontrup, William R. Taylor, Michael Fliesser, Rosa Visscher, Tamara Green, Pia-Maria Wippert, Roland Zemp,Low back pain and its relationship with sitting behaviour among sedentary office workers,Applied Ergonomics,Volume 81,2019,102894,ISSN 00036870,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2019.102894.
Hallman DM, Gupta N, Heiden M, Mathiassen SE, Korshøj M, Jørgensen MB, Holtermann A. Is prolonged sitting at work associated with the time course of neck-shoulder pain? A prospective study in Danish blue-collar workers. BMJ Open. 2016 Nov 10;6(11):e012689. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012689. PMID: 28186937; PMCID: PMC5128958.