Expert: Talking while standing really won’t cause back pain

As the saying goes: Talking while standing will not cause back pain. There is some truth to this actually. Guo Xianfeng, director of the Physical Rehabilitation Department of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, introduced that when standing, the abdominal muscles are tense and the abdominal cavity pressure increases, which relieves the body's pressure on the spine.

Many people often say that they cannot sit still and their waist hurts after sitting for a while. This is because when a person stands, the abdominal muscles are in a contracted state. When the abdominal muscles are tensed, the volume of the abdominal cavity will shrink, and the contents will remain unchanged, so the pressure will increase. Just like a fully inflated basketball can accommodate a person, when the abdominal pressure increases, part of the weight of our head, upper limbs, and torso can be directly transferred downward through the abdominal cavity to the pelvis and lower limbs.

When we sit, the abdominal muscles are relaxed and the weight of the body is mainly transmitted downward through the spine. If there is a problem with the spine or the muscles around it and they cannot bear such a heavy weight for a long time, low back pain will be inevitable.

For office workers, if they have lower back pain and go for an X-ray, the doctor will say "the bones are fine." But it still hurts and I still have to take painkillers. In fact, this is mainly caused by long-term lack of exercise and local stable muscle atrophy and weakness. Therefore, if you briskly walk for half an hour every day at a speed of 6 kilometers per hour, or ride a spinning bike in the gym until you sweat, and persist for 2-3 months, your back pain will be significantly relieved.