Slouching IS NOT bad for you, claims a leading spine specialist – and he says there’s no evidence trendy standing desks will ease your back pain
- Expert says there is no evidence that slouching will cause back or neck pain
- The spine physiotherapist says that stress or physical activity is more likely to cause pain
Forget what you were told at school: slouching isn’t bad for you, according to one of Britain’s leading spine specialists.
It has long been thought that the slouched position, often considered undignified or rude, is bad for your back.
But Dr Chris McCarthy, a consultant and researcher at Harley Street at Manchester Metropolitan University, says there is no evidence of this.
There’s also no evidence that people who slouch are more likely to have back or neck pain than people who don’t, said Dr. Chris McCarthy, a spine physiotherapist and researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University.
And trendy ‘standing desks’, which claim to improve posture and reduce back strain, offer no benefit to the body, he says.
“Our spines won’t be damaged by a little bit of sitting, even if we wiggle our fingers on a keyboard at the same time,” Dr. McCarthy said.
‘Standing for long periods of time is no more comfortable for the spine than sitting for long periods of time.
‘There’s a good reason why slouching doesn’t damage our spines, and that’s because our spines are designed to enable movements ranging from Olympic weightlifting to limbo dancing.
‘If you’re experiencing back or neck pain, rest assured that the position you adopt when walking or sitting is probably not as much to blame as you might have been led to believe.
‘Instead, it probably has more to do with other features of life, such as how stressed or physically active you are and whether you’ve had back pain before.
‘If you have a slouching posture, rest assured that it isn’t actually bad for you and is just as good as any other posture you adopt. Comfortable positions are safe and sitting is not dangerous.’
Dr. McCarthy, writing for the academic blog The Conversation, said there has been a “plethora of rigorous clinical studies” showing there is no link between slouching and back pain.
There is also no evidence that people who slouch are more likely to suffer from back or neck pain than non-slouchers.
Even the latest government guidelines on office work place less emphasis on workplace attitudes.
Dr. McCarthy said the best way for office workers to make their bodies feel more comfortable, increase their productivity and improve their mood is to take regular breaks to walk, stretch, stand or sit.
Slouching is associated with aspects of a person’s worth, dignity, respectability and morality.
The term itself comes from medieval Norwegian and means ‘lazy guy’.