Lower Back Pain When Standing For Too Long
While there are many underlying reasons for back pain during prolonged standing, the precipitating cause is usually postural. When you stand for a length of time, your pelvis is often pushed backward, increasing the curve of your lower back (lumbar region).
This puts increased pressure on the soft tissues surrounding the spine, causing your lower back muscles to tighten or even spasm, resulting in pain in the joints and nerves of your spine. At Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, we have a strong track record of diagnosing the causes of back pain accurately and treating them successfully without surgery,
Our pain management doctors help patients feel more comfortable and move more easily whether their back pain is due to injury, aging, congenital malformations, or a disease condition. If you experience pain when standing or walking, we can evaluate your problem and offer you a variety of treatment options.
Contents
Can too much standing cause lower back pain?
Numerous studies by medical researchers and occupational safety organizations have demonstrated that standing for long periods of time can lead to a variety of poor health outcomes, including lower back pain and leg pain due to muscle and tissue stress. Table of Contents
- Tips for Avoiding Back Pain
- At-Home Treatments for Back Pain Due to Standing
- Exercising at Work to Help with Standing
- Seeking the Help of a Doctor
Numerous studies by medical researchers and occupational safety organizations have demonstrated that standing for long periods of time can lead to a variety of poor health outcomes, including lower back pain and leg pain due to muscle and tissue stress.
Why does my lower back hurt after standing for 8 hours?
While there are many underlying reasons for back pain during prolonged standing, the precipitating cause is usually postural. When you stand for a length of time, your pelvis is often pushed backward, increasing the curve of your lower back (lumbar region).
- This puts increased pressure on the soft tissues surrounding the spine, causing your lower back muscles to tighten or even spasm, resulting in pain in the joints and nerves of your spine.
- At Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine, we have a strong track record of diagnosing the causes of back pain accurately and treating them successfully without surgery,
Our pain management doctors help patients feel more comfortable and move more easily whether their back pain is due to injury, aging, congenital malformations, or a disease condition. If you experience pain when standing or walking, we can evaluate your problem and offer you a variety of treatment options.
Why does standing hurt more than walking?
What’s Worse: Standing on Your Feet for an Hour or Walking for an Hour? This may sounds like a trick question but the correct answer is standing on your feet for an hour is actually worse than walking. It is more tiring to stand in one place for an hour as it causes a few muscle groups in your feet and legs to fire for an extended period of time.
- When you are walking, all the muscles in your feet and legs are used as they share in the work.
- This prevents any one muscle from getting excessively tired.
- Standing is a natural human posture and when done for short periods of time poses no particular health risk.
- However, when staying in one position for extended periods of time on a regular basis, sore feet, swelling of the legs, varicose veins, low back pain, and stiffness of the neck and shoulders may result.
This is because keeping the body in a standing position requires muscular effort while it reduces the blood supply to these muscles. It is the lack of blood flow that causes muscles to tire more easily and causes pain in the feet, legs, back and neck.
It is important to plan properly for long periods of standing. A great way to promote circulation is to walk in place or make small movements. Another way to prevent standing stress is to wear proper shoes. A shoe that doesn’t change the shape of your foot, provides arch support, is properly padded, has a firm grip to support the heel, and has nonslip soles is the best shoe to wear.
Other ways to reduce standing stress include using a foot rail or footrest to shift body weight between your feet. However, the best way to prevent stress from standing is to move, even just a little bit helps! To make an appointment, please call us at 843-449-FOOT (3668).
Why does my back hurt when I transition from sitting to standing?
Back pain can worsen when transitioning from a sitting position to a standing position. This is mainly caused by the rounding of the spine while attempting to stand up, which causes the low back to lift the weight of your body as you manoeuvre. Adapting a squatting posture to initiate standing from a seated position will allow your legs, and not your back to lift you up while maintaining a neutral spine.
- To rise from a seat, spread your knees and position your feet so that they are underneath you.
- While lifting with the chest, lean forward through the hips while maintaining a straight back.
- Shift the weight to the middle of your feet and bring your hips forward to initiate the movement instead of lifting with your back.
For added support, take a deep breath in and activate your ‘core’ muscles (tense your abdominals) while transitioning from a seated to standing position. By adopting this style of transitioning between seated to standing, will spare your spine of unnecessary stress that may induce or trigger low back pain.
Did I pull a muscle or slipped a disc?
Herniated disc symptoms – A herniated disc occurs when one of the spongy discs located between each pair of spine bones gets squeezed out of its normal position and bulges outward, beyond the edge of the bones. The bulging or herniated part of the disc presses on nerves as they exit the spine, resulting in pain and other symptoms.
Your symptoms extend from your neck or lower back into your shoulders, arms, buttocks, or legs. When the nerves exit your spine, they travel to other parts of your body. Since a herniated disc presses on these nerves, you can experience pain and other symptoms anywhere along that nerve pathway — even all the way down to your hands or calves. You’re experiencing numbness, tingling, or shock-like bursts of pain. Since your nerves are responsible for sensation, when a nerve is compressed, it can interfere with your ability to feel, and it can also cause electricity-like jolts of discomfort along the nerve pathway. Your symptoms are focused around your neck and shoulders or your lower back and buttocks. The lower back and neck are the most flexible parts of your spine, and they’re also where most herniated discs occur. While pain in your mid-back may be related to a disc, it’s more likely caused by muscle strain or other issues. Your symptoms feel worse when you bend or straighten up from a bent position. Movement can increase pressure on the herniated disc and the surrounding nerves, causing symptoms to increase. Many people find that sitting or lying in specific positions makes their pain worse as well. You have muscle weakness or muscle fatigue in your arms, hands, or legs. Your nerves also control muscle movements, so if a nerve is compressed, your muscles can also be affected.
Herniated discs can occur in just about anyone, but they’re more common among people who are:
Older Obese or overweight Pregnant Inclined to stand or sit for long periods of time Mostly sedentary
Repetitive movements like bending or lifting, as well as carrying unbalanced loads like a heavy backpack or shoulder bag, can also increase your risk for developing a herniated disc.
What type of back pain is concerning?
You should see a doctor if your pain does not improve after a few weeks or if any of the following symptoms happen with your back pain: Numbness and tingling. Severe back pain that does not improve with medication (see Treatment section). Back pain after a fall or injury.
