Sitting for hours? You could be at risk

Is your sedentary lifestyle working against you, there's help at hand from Dr Madhavi

Working professionals are often subjected to a sedentary lifestyle. According to studies, a sedentary lifestyle is a major risk factor for many disorders, including metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and mental health diseases. Let us discuss some of these problems below:

ORTHOPAEDIC ISSUES

Lower back pain: The muscles and ligaments on your back face a strain every time you slouch forward and your back slumps on the chair as you work. It puts your spine out of alignment, causing lower back pain.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: This is a common condition among working professionals wherein there is some pain and numbness in the arms and hands along with a tingling sensation. This is due to the major nerves travelling through the wrists to your hands getting squeezed or compressed as a result of constant typing on the keyboard.

Misalignment of the skeleton: Your posture suffers due to long sitting hours at work. It causes your neck and shoulder muscles to weaken alongside your abdominal and spine muscles.

Leg pain: A sedentary lifestyle can cause a build-up of fluid in the veins of the legs resulting in mild to chronic leg pain. This is because blood begins to pool in the leg and feet, causing noticeable swelling.

DIETARY ISSUES

Weight gain

A sedentary lifestyle slows the natural metabolism of your body. This can cause you to gain weight faster than people who are more active throughout the day.

Dehydration

Confined to air-conditioned rooms, we often forget to drink adequate amounts of water, which leads to dehydration.

(The author is consultant, mfine from Aster Clinic, Bangalore)