Every September we see the same thing. The commute is back to five days a week, the summer walking has stopped, and by the third week of the month people are booking in with a lower back that has quietly seized up.
If that is you, here is what is usually going on and what actually shifts it.
Why sitting hurts your back
Sitting is not inherently harmful. Sitting in one position for eight hours is the problem. Three things tend to happen together:
- Hip flexors shorten. Sit with your hips at ninety degrees all day and the muscles at the front of the hip adapt to that length. When you stand up they pull on the pelvis, which tips it forward and loads the lower back.
- Glutes switch off. They are not being asked to do anything. When the glutes are quiet, the lower back muscles take over jobs they were never meant to do.
- The mid-back stiffens. A rounded thoracic spine has to come from somewhere, and the lower back is usually where it is borrowed from.
That is why the pain often turns up at the end of the day, on standing up, or on the drive home — rather than while you are actually sitting.
What helps at your desk
None of this is glamorous, and all of it works better than a new chair.
- Move every 30 minutes. Stand up, walk to the kettle, sit back down. The best posture is the next one. A timer helps more than willpower.
- Get your screen to eye level. If you work off a laptop all day, a stand and a separate keyboard will do more for your neck than anything we can do with our hands.
- Feet flat, hips slightly above knees. Tilting the seat forward a few degrees takes a surprising amount of load off the lumbar spine.
- Stop sitting on your wallet. Genuinely. A wallet in the back pocket tilts the pelvis every time you sit down.
Three things worth doing daily
- Hip flexor stretch, half-kneeling, 30 seconds each side. Squeeze the glute on the kneeling side or you will just arch your back instead.
- Glute bridges, two sets of twelve. Slow, and pause at the top.
- Thoracic rotations, lying on your side with knees bent, ten each way. This is the one people skip and the one that usually makes the biggest difference.
Give it a fortnight of consistency before deciding it has not worked.
When to get it looked at
Come and see someone if the pain has been there more than two or three weeks, if it wakes you at night, if it travels down your leg past the knee, or if you have had a course of the same advice from the internet and nothing has changed.
Get seen urgently, by a doctor or A&E rather than us, if you have numbness around the groin or inner thighs, any change in bladder or bowel control, or significant weakness in a leg. Those are red flags and they are not a massage problem.
What treatment usually looks like
For a straightforward desk-related back, an assessment first, then hands-on work to release the hip flexors, glutes and lumbar tissue, often with medical acupuncture if there are stubborn trigger points, sometimes spinal manipulation if a segment is genuinely stiff. Then a short set of exercises so it stays fixed.
Most people need somewhere between two and five sessions. If we think you need more than that, we will explain why.
