Stop. Don't move. Or more likely, continue not moving. One of the most serious threats to your health lurks closer than you think! The threat is real, at home and work and in your car. The enemy is the chair under your bottom!

It's not the type or brand or even ergonomic technicalities of the seat you sit in. It's the fact that so many of us place our bodies in a stationary seated position for too long, too often. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Does this concern you, even one little bit?

My guess is no. Not until you notice numbness in your right hand while trying to type or headaches when reading from the monitor. Not until you feel restricted by a ball of muscle and "locking" when you try to back up your car. Not until you look in the mirror and notice the hunchback of Notre Dame in progress.

The effects extend well beyond the cervical spine. Don't overlook the tightening of scapular (shoulder area) muscles. Or the straightening of the normal curve of your spine. Or the restriction of the muscles and ligaments crossing the hip joint. Can you feel it all going down? Gravity won't quit until you're just a head on feet.

All this from such a harmless activity like sitting. Everyone needs to take a load off and rest a while. The problem is all that sitting; really all that anything. All that lifting, reaching, grabbing, typing, climbing. Any repetitive activity is likely to take its toll in the long run. It's just that today more of us sit than throw bales of hay or kneel down and install carpets all day.

You may even get away with sitting. But at some point, you will want to wash the windows or lift the grandkids or swing a golf club. When you strain something, don't blame anything else but your chair. It was a set up. The body was thoroughly adapted to one thing, and you asked it to do something else.

The good news is that you would be surprised at how far a little intentional stretching and attention to posture and general movement will take you. It needs to be a specific and habitual routine that, in effect, counters the movements and positions that you repetitively impose upon your muscles and joints.

It's up to you, of course. Why should a PT give you a literal heads up about the ultimate origin of a lot of orthopedic impairments? Fine. Slump all day at work and slouch on your drive home and hunch into your recliner chair and droop over your computer. It will keep us busy, but we would rather see you enjoying the activities you enjoy most. Check with any of the First Choice Rehab physical therapists for exercises that can help you fight against the effects of "the seat."

By Bob Gorinski, DPT