In the post covid era, sedentary life is a new norm where sitting for a longer period has become second nature. This routine of prolonged sitting can develop into back pain and sciatica. The only way you’d have productive life is when you know how to sit with sciatica. When an average civilian spends more than 40% of their workday sitting, avoiding it seems not to be an option.
With sciatica, a harmless act of sitting can inflict excruciating pain, and when you know the probability of you acquiring sciatica pain, it is of utmost importance that you understand how to sit with sciatica pain-free.
What Sitting Has To Do With Sciatica?
The pressure exerted on your discs causes lower back and sciatica. Sitting with poor posture puts tremendous pressure on the discs. This pressure compresses the discs and can affect the nerves in the spine resulting in pain.
You may think sitting relaxes the body, and you are at rest. Well, that’s usually not the case as our body is not designed for prolonged sitting. Your back, buttocks, and tailbone experience excessive pressure.
Sitting affects the sciatic nerve in your glute, which can cause a sensation of searing pain in your leg. So, having a basic understanding of how to sit with sciatica can improve your productivity.
How To Sit With Sciatica Pain?
Understanding how to sit with sciatica can relieve some pain, especially when your job requires extended sitting. Given below are a few tips on how to sit with sciatica that will get you some short-term benefits.
1. Sitting with Correct Posture
Proper posture can provide pain relief, and you can still sit comfortably with sciatica for a desk job. The best practices for sitting that can alleviate sciatic nerve pain are as follows:
- While sitting, your buttocks and back should be touching the back of a chair. Use a lumbar pillow to maintain a neutral spine.
- Try to sit with an open hip angle. It can be done by placing a cushion on top of your chair to raise its height or, if possible, using a kneeling chair.
- If necessary turn around, and rotate your chair without twisting your spine.
- Don’t cross your legs as it can block the blood circulation in your lower back and limbs, resulting in numbness.
- Use a footrest to reduce the pressure under your thighs and place your feet flat on the floor.
- Use a seat cushion to distribute the weight proportionally.
2. Using an Ergonomic Chair
When it comes to sciatica, what you sit on does matter. You may have a beautiful office chair, but does it support your legs? Does it avoid slouching posture?
The sciatica pain can exasperate with the poorly designed office chair. Experts recommend an office chair that fulfills these requirements:
- The office chair should have a contoured waterfall edge. The seat has sufficient space between the back of the thighs and the seat edge.
- The seat has lumbar support for the lower back and a forward tilting seat that helps in minimizing pressure under the thighs.
- Must have a footrest for placing feet in an elevated position.
So, having a fine ergonomic chair is helpful.
3. Make Everything Accessible
The efficacy of your work will increase, even with sciatica, if you make things accessible and within reach in your workstation. It will reduce your unnecessary movements, and you will be at ease.
4. Frequent Breaks
If you sit for long periods, sciatica pain will arise no matter what. Therefore, it is advised to take frequent breaks from sitting, say go for a water break every 45 minutes.
5. Proper Way To Get Up
Individuals suffering from sciatica shouldn’t bend their lower back while getting up. It can further exaggerate the pain. Instead, use your leg and arm muscles to get up while maintaining your back in upright stature.
6. Lumber Braces and Sciatica
You can wear lumbar braces, and these can help in pain relief. Lumbar braces restrict the movement of the lower spine and, in doing so, limit the chances of compression of the sciatic nerve.
7. Heat or Cold Therapy
Other than surgery, heat or cold therapy is another effective way to relieve sciatic pain.
Cold therapy reduces inflammation while heat therapy increases blood flow to reduce pain in the affected area.
8. Exercise and Stretches For Sciatica
Experts suggest specific exercises and stretches for sciatica can improve a healthy lifestyle. In addition, these stretches can lessen the symptoms and provide pain relief.
But not all exercises are helpful with sciatica; even some can exaggerate the condition. Exercises like bent-over rows, squats, and double leg lifts are the worst exercises for sciatica.
Exercises that involve stretching the piriformis muscles and relaxing the glutes one side at a time are the best sciatica relief. JUMP TO THE COMPLETE GUIDE HERE
FAQs
Is it better to sit or lay down with sciatica?
Short periods of bed rest can ease excruciating pain, but long-term bed rest is not beneficial. Once the pain is manageable, you should get up and walk short distances. As sitting increases the pressure on the discs in the lower back, avoid driving or sitting for a prolonged time period.
What position makes sciatica worse?
It seems to be the case that sciatica symptoms are worse when lying on a soft mattress. Because lying down increases pressure on the sciatic nerve, causing you to bend your spine while sleeping.
How to sit on the couch with sciatica?
While sitting on the couch with sciatica, make sure your body weight is equally distributed on both sides. For example, if you are leaning towards one side, then that side receives more pressure.
Make sure your back is flat against the backrest of the couch.
Your feet should touch the ground; if that is not possible, put your feet on the couch.
How to sit in a recliner while suffering from sciatica?
While reclining your chair, make sure your feet are on the recliner by bending your knees: this will put your back in a better position. READ THE COMPLETE GUIDE HERE
Can sciatica paralyze you?
Yes, it can. If sciatic symptoms go unchecked, can develop into cauda equina syndrome (CES). CES may result in paralysis.
Bottom Line
The best way to cope with sciatica while sitting is your posture. By understanding how to sit with sciatica comfortably, you are making progress and making your life productive at the same time. Do incorporate frequent stretches and exercises.
While all these tips and suggestions can alleviate the symptoms, knowing the root cause and getting treatment from your physician is the best thing.
