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To all: Here is a recent post published on forum at rehabedge with regards to the belief that sitting is bad for posture. It was posted by MCAP. "Group: Here is a question for you. I am hoping for controvesy. PTs walk around and preach to the world how bad sitting is for your back. But is it really? What is this based on?? I think that the propagation of this myth resulted from Nachemson's research back in the 70s. During his studies, he determined (in vivo) that the disc pressure was higher in sitting than in standing. These experiments were not repeated because they involve inserting a catheter with a pressure sensor into someone's disc and then having them perform various activities with the catheter sticking out. So everyone grabbed the information and began preaching to everyone about the horrors of the modern office and the consequences of sitting down However, a study was performed recently that casts doubt upon this assertion. Wilk, et al. recently did a one subject study. The subject was actually one of the researchers (I don't think they could get IRB approval to use outside subjects!). But in any case their data was similar to Nachemson's EXCEPT sitting vs. standing. They found higher disc pressure in relaxed standing .5 MPa than in sitting unsupported .46MPa and than in "nonchalant" (relaxed) sitting .3MPa. Now this study certainly had limitations but on the other hand - the equipment to collect the data was more accurate and sophisticated. This brings me back to my point.......Why is sitting so bad???????? I would actually contend that it isn't. The fact that most people sit all day is why they associate it with pain. If everyone had to stand all day we would be hearing about how difficult it is to stand and how bad standing is for you. Some patients are individually worse in sitting. But many are worse in standing as well. My pointis that the best thing for the spine is movement and variety. Sitting, in and of itself, is not inherently bad. Here is the cite; Spine 1999 Apr 15;24(8):755-62. New in vivo measurements of pressures in the intervertebral disc in daily life. Fire away people....." What are people's thoughts? Henry*** _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp