A poor posture damages lumbar spine

In 2009, Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine performed a survey, asking patients with low back pain about their occupations. 2282 people had responded this question. Our hypothesis was that blue color workers were proned to low back pain due to overuse of lumbar joints at work. However, interestingly, the result showed that white colors, 72.4%, get back pain more frequently than blue colors, 27.6%.

Human spine has intervertebral discs, made of gelatin, between each vertebra. The intervertebral disc which is supported and surrounded by ligaments and muscles plays an important role in shock absorption. Strong pressure on the intervertebral joints causes them to escape from their original position and push spinal nerve roots. This phenomenon, herniated intervertebral disc, causes pain on lumbar area. The purpose of the survey was to investigate what tasks pose too much pressure on the intervetebral joints.

Research by Nachemson and Wilke et al. measured the amount of pressure on the disc while performing daily tasks. According to the research, tasks that cause higher intervertebral pressure were side lying, sitting position and carrying heavy items. The most interesting finding was that a sitting posture with turtle neck position doubled intervertebral pressure compared to a normal sitting posture. Another finding was the different amount of pressures among a variety of sitting positions. Sitting without any movement for a long time decreased muscular strength on lumbar area and easily caused abnormal alignment on spine and pelvis.
As seen on the survey and research, the worst task on lumbar area is a sitting posture for a long time without any movement. This is why more office workers were suffering from low back pain than blue color workers on the survey.

Dr. Byungmo Park

Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine