sitting orthotic

Hi Mag

I am assuming that Backjoy is the one you are referring to.

I cannot see anything 'wrong' about this device. I don't think it would actually do any supporting, because the raised back section is pressing into your buttocks, which are quite soft. Rather, it would make it uncomfortable to sit wrongly. It seems to just remind you to sit properly by making 'properly' be the most comfortable position, and sitting wrongly would be very uncomfortable. After long term use it probably teaches your body to sit properly, and you would then do it automatically, just like Wholewoman posture.

Having said that, much of the reason we sit wrongly (slumped) is that our seats are not horizontal, and the back often slopes back. We sit in them, not on them. The seat mostly slopes backwards, particularly cheap office chairs that we sit in for a third of our working lives. The next model up often has a mechanism for altering the tilt of the seat.

This is illustrated in the Backjoy videos, which are wonderful illustrations of what happens to our musculoskeletal system when we sit in the average chair. If you sit on a horizontal surface there is less tendency to slump, particularly if the seat is high enough for your thighs to slope slightly downwards. The Backjoy rounds the surface we sit on, so there is less point load on our sit bones than if we sit directly on a horizontal surface.

There are a few other ways you can accomplish the same result in chairs that you use frequently. You can put blocks of some sort on the back legs or shims under the seat attachment. You can use a foam wedge. You can use a blowup pillow (or wine cask bladder), and sit on the front of it. All these things will enable you to sit better. A blow up cushion ( or one sold by physical therapists as a balance disk for rehabilitation of ankle injuries) can be deflated and rolled up in your bag. This Backjoy thing would be pretty cumbersome to carry under your arm on the bus on the way to work.

Ultimately your body learns to sit properly and you will build up the muscle strength that holds you in proper posture, just by using WW posture, whatever you are doing during the day. Probably anything non-harmful you can use to teach your body will be beneficial. You will probably find that you only use it for a limited time. The you won't be bothered with it.

There are very few surfaces that I sit on where I cannot use WW posture. Sometimes I have to perch on the edge, sometimes I have to semi-squat. I don't like slumpy, comfy chairs. I would rather stand, squat or sit cross-legged on the floor.

Ergonomically designed chairs are often the worst, because they are designed for skinny, male people, not full -bodied females with wide hip and butt. This Backjoy thing would probably be no exception if you don't have a skinny butt.

The other thing to mention is that the tilt of the pelvis is not the only variable. The lumbar curve needs to be kept large, ie it needs to go further up your back. I think the part of your back between waist and bra fastening is just as important. I think my lumbar spine goes right up to there. I found it interesting the other day trying out high quality seats in a 4WD shop. The stereotypical 4wd driver is male. I found that all these seats were too small for my butt, and while they had good lumbar support, the part above that curved in a way that left a big space above the lumbar support, so I would slump into it, like a man with big broad shoulders, drawn forwards by strong chest muscles. Not for me thanks. I would rather sit on a packing case with a blow up pillow under me!

BTW I have a foam wedge on my car seat to make it more horizontal, and a tall lumbar support that hangs from my head restraint. I take it with me using the hanging strap as a shoulder strap, whenever I am going to be sitting for a long time, eg bus or plane trip, theatre, etc. I also have a blowup c-pillow zipped inside its cover in case I need a sitting up snooze.

Louise

Louise

Hi Mag & Louise,
Isn't it amazing how we can improvise so well with seating. I would like to share my experience with my new seat.

Several years ago I was given an ergonomic stool, seat adjustable and sloping forward with knee rest sloping back. I loved it so much I wore it out and consequently got pitched out. Since being diagnosed with a stage 2 bladder prolapse I wished that I had my stool back. After googling one locally I found they cost $399 new in Australia, which was not what I had in mind to pay. I could bring a new one from America for $99 plus $30 postage. After searching through the local version of ebay I found one in excellent condition for $40 & better still it was only about 50klms from where I live.

Since bringing my ergonomic stool into the mix I have found maintaining WW posture when sitting is very easy and it has also trained me to sit properly on conventional seating. I have been able to do away with all the other props I was experimenting with. At first my back ached a bit (I also have a sway back) but now my muscles have begun to strengthen I am finding my stool invaluable. Also at times when my bulge becomes particularly annoying I found that sitting on the knee rest with my arms resting on the seat allows my tummy to relax forward and helps to reposition my bladder quite easily.

Kind regards.

That's an interesting trick, Wombat, using the knee stool back to front. Wow! What a nice surprise, getting one locally. I hope it has good quality knee rests.

Whatever we sit on, I think flexibility/adjustability is essential, particularly the height and slope of the seat, and where we plant our body on it.

I really think that, when we have to use chairs for long term use, we should be able to adjust them slightly every now and then so our body doesn't get used to one static position (and muscle memory becomes fixed).

The human body is dynamic. Our posture is dynamic. In a way I think posture is a misnomer. Our body is never still, except perhaps in a meditative state, or sleeping. We can't stand 'just so'. There is always a variable, whether it is carrying a cup of coffee or an elephant in one hand, or standing on sloping ground, or riding a horse or bicycle, or sitting at a keyboard typing, or standing in the aisle of a bus, hanging onto a strap, or whatever.

It is the principles of how we use our body parts in relation to each other, and to the environment in which we move, that are important. We are always going out of one movement into another, whether that is sitting to walking, walking itself, lying to standing or even minute balancing adjustments while we are still.

I find seat backs irrelevant, and never use them except to rest pillows for my head/shoulders on while vegging on the sofa with my body straight out the front as if I am perching on the edge of the sofa with knees bent and feet planted flat and just lie back onto my cushions, with my lumbar curve 'almost' OK.

Ultimately, manufactured seats are just decorated bum support points in space. There are seats everywhere, because they are simply near-horizontal surfaces between ground level and the sky, even if we have to climb up to them. We just need to be able to organise the rest of our body around our butt. Gadgets are OK, but often unnecessary.

I think you are grasping WW principles well, and will have a lot of success with them, because you are a thinker.

Louise

mmm, I think that might mean that you are engaging some lower back muscles, or else that your gluteal muscles are tight, and don't want to let you untuck your butt. All these muscles work together. If your rectus abdominus is tight it will pull your pubic bones upwards. If your butt (gluteals) is tight your butt will tuck. If your hamstrings are tight it will pull the back of your pelvis down. So you need to loosen all these muscle groups, or get them more active so they can release themselves. First Aid for Prolapse is a good place to start.

There is a yoga routine called Salute The Sun or Sun Salutation, which is great for stretching the back and front of your body. Here is a stick figure diagram page to give you the idea, http://www.yogasite.com/sunsalute.htm . There are many variations of it. Just google it. If the whole exercise is too hard, then cheat a bit for a start.;-)

I am wondering if you would benefit from sitting on the floor more, cross-legged or legs out front? Sitting on chairs is poisonous because usually the seat slopes backwards, and we very rarely straighten our legs, so we are in a folded up posture for long periods, so our hamstring muscles never really get stretched out.

I would go with the orthotic, or something similar for a start. I don't think it will hurt one bit. All you need is something to support the back of your buttocks. A towel folded up with an extra bit of bulk at the back might do the same job for nil cost, so see if it works for you.

Fold a decent sized bath towel in half lengthwise so it is long and thin. Fold in half so it is half the length. Then fold the hemmed end in to halfway and fold the other end back over the top, all the way to the opposite edge, so you have three layers, but there is an extra thick lump on the inside of one edge. It is kind of hard to explain but it ends up looking like you did the last fold into thirds but made the first fold too big. Is that description as clear as mud?