Have you been sitting too long due to some work or study? Do you know that sitting too long can have some side effects for your health?
Office workers spend the majority of their time sitting in chairs while working on tasks on their desks. Some of us has been too much into the work until they sitting unconscious for a long period of time.
It is suggested by the doctor that we should get up from the chair and stretch for few minutes. But what will happen if we just ignore it and sit for hours on end? Here are some of the side effects that can arise from sitting for too long:
1. Back Problems
Sitting is fine, especially when you’re at the office and you are faced with a lot of work. But it doesn’t justify sitting in a chair for too long. This bad habit can have a bad impact on the body. One of the side effects that are certain to be experienced by those who sitting in a chair for too long is problems with the back and spine.
Sitting for a long time actually stresses the back and spine. If you let it, this pressure can lead to stress on your muscles and yourself. If you suddenly experience pain in your back, it may not be due to the wrong sleeping position or lifting too heavy weights, but it could be because of this habit of sitting too long.
2. Rheumatism
When a person has entered old age, his body will experience a decline in function. Various health problems will arise. One of side effects of sitting too long is rheumatism. Rheumatism is a disease that attacks the joints. When your joints feel painful, that is what is known as rheumatism. This is a common disease experienced by parents, but now this disease can also affect those who are young.
The causes of those who are still young suffer from rheumatism can vary. One of them is their bad habit of sitting too long. Sitting too long in a chair actually makes the joints tired quickly. So it is advisable to stretch every 30 or 60 minutes. Can rheumatism be cured? Certainly can. But if the level is acute, it will be difficult to heal.
3. Diabetes
When a person sits too often in a chair, the effect can be on weight as previously explained. Still related to body weight, a person’s chances of developing diabetes are also greater. This is because when people sit, they do not move and their metabolism decreases.
This all ultimately leads to the body’s inability to cope with spikes in blood sugar. In total, more than 100 million adults in America have diabetes because of the habit of sitting too long. If you have diabetes, it will be difficult to restore your health condition to normal.
Read Also: 10 Early Warning Signs That You Actually Have Diabetes
4. Deep Vein Thrombosis
Deep vein thrombosis is a condition in which blood clots occur in one or more of the inner veins. When a person sits for too long in a chair, deep vein thrombosis will occur in the thigh or calf area.
If it breaks, the effect will be very dangerous. It is very easy to detect DVT. If you find an unusual protrusion in the leg area, then you can guess that you have DVT. This swelling will feel painful when held. What is even more dangerous is that there are cases where there are no symptoms at all. So people are just indifferent to sit for hours.
5. Stiff neck and shoulders
When a person sits, there will be a change in body position in which the pressure will also move. Usually when sitting, the pressure will move on the neck, back, waist, and shoulders. If the duration of sitting is up to hours and done regularly, it is not uncommon for pain to appear in that area.
Luckily, now that technology is getting more advanced, chairs have been created that can be positioned so that the body can relax. But still you have to stretch to maintain a healthy body. It doesn’t hurt to get up and do light exercise for 1 to 2 minutes than having health problems.
6. Varicose veins
Varicose veins are no longer a disease that has just been heard. This often occur in those who frequently do standing activities. Apparently not just standing alone, varicose veins can also be experienced by those who have a habit of sitting too long in a chair. You can see on his feet there are blood vessels that appear purple or dark blue.
In the medical world, varicose veins are swelling or dilation of veins. This is due to a buildup of blood in these blood vessels. Hence it looks purple or dark blue and looks swollen. The activity of sitting for too long in a chair turns out to be as heavy as standing or walking, there is considerable pressure in the leg area. Usually varicose veins appear mostly in the calf area.
7. Weight Gain
Someone who likes to eat but is lazy to move will certainly have problems with weight. Body weight will increase as lazy to do movement activities and do not want to maintain a diet Which if left unchecked, it will come to the name obesity or overweight. Too much sitting can also make a person gain weight.
When sitting, the body movements decrease. Movable muscles and joints are limited to a few parts. When muscles are rarely trained, the body’s metabolism will decrease, calorie burning will also decrease. Meanwhile, you eat continues. If so, it’s just a matter of waiting for you to gain weight.
8. Weakened legs
Muscle weakness not only occurs because muscles are rarely used or have entered old age, continuing to do bad habits such as sitting too long can also result in muscle weakness. The muscle weakness that may occur is the thigh and leg muscles. Though these 2 muscles are muscles that are important to support all body weight.
That muscle should be trained every day. After being trained, they are given nutrition for recovery from the food we eat. When muscles are used less frequently, their function and strength will decrease. It’s useless for you to eat healthy food but if you do bad habits. When the leg muscles are weak, running, stopping, or even standing must be difficult.
9. Heart Problems
Scientists have long found a link between heart problems and the habit of sitting too long. This discussion has even been released in Harvard Health Publications. They researchers say that sitting too long is as dangerous as sugar and metabolic disorders. Which can put you at risk for diabetes and heart problems.
Hearing a heart problem is certainly a terrible thing. It’s like a silent killer, you won’t know when your heart has a problem and it can lead to death. To avoid this, you really only need to take a few moments to stand or walk to get a drink. At least give a little rest time for the body to stretch itself.
10. Depression
Depression can not only occur because of too heavy workload and life problems. It can also be caused by sitting for a long time. Sitting for long periods of time means that there is something in front of him that has to be done that makes him sit down. That means, their social activities will be reduced.
Lack of communication with coworkers can lead to feelings of loneliness as well as depression. Not to mention the bad lighting. One source of vitamin D can be obtained from sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency can also increase the likelihood of depression. You can occasionally get up from your seat and take a leisurely walk in the office and chat with other employees.
