Correct sitting posture is very important to avoid back pain, when you maintain a neutral pelvic position with a straight and upright back, the vertebrae in your back are nicely aligned. This takes a lot of pressure off of your spine and back muscles, which can reduce back pain. Your Sitting Posture and Back Pain - Correct sitting position
- Sit up with your back straight and your shoulders back. Your buttocks should touch the back of your chair.
- All three normal back curves should be present while sitting. A small, rolled-up towel or a lumbar roll can be used to help you maintain the normal curves in your back.Here's how to find a good sitting position when you're not using a back support or lumbar roll:
- Sit at the end of your chair and slouch completely.
- Draw yourself up and accentuate the curve of your back as far as possible. Hold for a few seconds.
- Release the position slightly (about 10 degrees). This is a good sitting posture.
In my personal experience, less than 90 deg. can quickly lead to pain. Exactly 90 deg. feels much better, at least in the short term. Greater than 90 deg. seems, however, to be the least painful of all. It can be hard to get a > 90 deg. position in a regular upright chair, however, without also leaving your back unsupported and hanging, leading to a reduction of lumbar lordosis. One way to avoid this is to role up a towel and sit on it. This will increase the angle between your hips and your back, while still maintaining the good lordosis. Another option is to slouch backwards, and then support your lower back by placing both of your arms behind your back.
Unfortunately there’s not a whole lot of research into how exactly to adopt good posture--a lot of what we know tends to come from being told to “sit up straight” as children. A study in 1999, however, found that sitting at an angle of 110 to 130 degrees is optimal for spine comfort, and another in 2007 showed that leaning back at 135 degrees is ideal for preventing back strain.
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Not only is a position like this difficult to measure and maintain (do you know precisely what angle you’re sitting at right now?), not everyone agrees. Your Sitting Posture and Back Pain - Correct sitting position
