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marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
 Posted - 07/29/2005 : 13:40:23
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I made an interesting observation today at work. I have been toiling over a large presentation on my computer so I'm sitting here, totally absorbed in the work, plugging away. Then I realize wow, I have not once wiggled in my chair, which is not the ergonomic one I had them order for me in December with the ergonimoc back rest and seat rest.
I am now sitting in a regular old generic cloth desk seat at work. So all the stuff I used to be told about sitting right, having correct posture, etc. to avoid back pain has not been put into practice for several months now and I'm still ok. I mean, I'm sure it's not good to hunch and if I catch myself hunching, I should probably try to sit up, but not for pain reasons, which is what I was conditioned to believe. Doesn't matter HOW I sit at my desk, it brings on no pain. So it's just something I wanted to share about my old way of thinking vs. my current progressive TMS thinking. Things are much easier just sitting the way I feel most comfy and not stressing about it. |
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n/a
374 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2005 : 16:11:03
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I think you have made a big step here, Maryalma. It's liberating to realise that you can sit and stand any way you like. I used to sit only in a hard, straight backed upright chair - on the advice of a less than useful physio. I drove using a special back support roll - that was before I bought a chair thing you fitted over the regular seat - you could make the back of it vibrate slightly and the part that fitted into the small of my back had a switch that made it heat up.
I never actually used that contraption - it was my last mad purchase - I did go to extremes just prior to the time two years ago when I began to suspect that my problems originated in my brain and not my back.
It's great to watch television sprawled all over a big soft sofa, not giving any thought to the consequences because there aren't any. It's great to go shopping and carry heavy bags around giving no thought to my back.
Where did all this fear of sitting, standing and lifting come? Conventional wisdom says that if a person is not very, very careful they will aggravate a back problem, maybe even cause dreadful damage. Any newspaper or magazine article I have read about back pain (apart from the odd one or two which has explored the mind/body link) has gone into knee jerk mode - don't do this, don't do that, walk this way, sit this way, bend from the knees etc. etc.
You've found out that your life doesn't have to be restricted in this way - and it's a great feeling. Your confidence will grow the more you practise 'lounging around.'
We need to have a great big public bonfire rendering all the devices designed to protect the back and all books that instil fear to ash and dust. |
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Jim1999
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2005 : 23:13:27
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Congratulations on your progress, Maryalma!
Posture and back support were huge issues for me during my TMS days, so I can really relate to your posting. I decided I needed to buy my own office chair to make sure I had the best chance at sitting through the day. Not only did I use this chair at my desk, but I also rolled it down the hall to meetings. "Can't you make it through a one hour meeting without a special chair?" "No!" Now that I'm recovered, I sit on the same chairs as everybody else at work. And I feel free to slouch...what's that going to do? Hurt my back?
Anne, it's interesting how, suddenly, our society needs to have the best posture, the best chairs, etc. People in ancient cultures never had height-adjustable chairs, and few chairs had lumbar support. Some people did lots of sitting with no back support at all. I think of the Dakota Indians spending cold winters huddled in teepees. No back support. Very little room to stand up with "correct" posure. Too cold to go outside and move around much. Why didn't they have a crippling epidemic of back pain?
Jim
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Posture
