Many times, whether intentionally done or not, most of us end up in a default sitting mode, when we are concentrating. While many people fold their ankles neatly beneath their chair, others may like to sit with them outstretched. One common way of sitting we have all done is sitting cross legged, or with one bent leg over the other. While it may feel comfortable and give your leg a bit rest, could it also affect your health? Some studies show it may! A study published in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science, showed different aspects of it. The researchers pointed out that with people spending much longer hours sitting in front of computers at work and at home, prolonged sitting has become common. Many people—regardless of age or gender—often sit with one leg crossed. The spine is a complex system that works with your pelvis to keep your body stable and absorb shock when you move. Because the spine constantly supports your weight and is under pressure, bad postures can cause it to become deformed. Here is how sitting a certain way can affect it. How Sitting Cross-Legged Affects Us? Crossing one leg can sometimes feel comfortable for a few reasons: It may reduce muscle fatigue in the abdomen.It can help balance the hips in people with different leg lengths.It might provide stability to a certain joint (sacro-iliac joint) for people who have trouble there.However, crossing your leg also creates several risks:It can make your torso uneven (asymmetrical) because the muscles on the sides of your stomach work unevenly.It can force your spine to twist if your hip joints don't have a full range of motion.While your spine is strong against straight-up-and-down stress, it is vulnerable to stress from twisting or bending, which can cause back pain.While past studies looked at muscle activity during leg-crossing, few have looked at the resulting spinal deformities. This study aimed to measure how crossing the right leg affects the length of the torso and the twisting (torsion) of the pelvis in healthy people. How Do We Know Sitting Cross-Legged Affects Us? The study involved 30 healthy young adults (18 males and 12 females). The average age was about 20. None of the participants had a history of orthopedic surgery, neurological problems, or musculoskeletal diseases. All participants were fully informed and agreed to take part in the study. Participants sat on an adjustable chair so their hips and knees were bent at a 90-degree angle. They sat stripped to the waist for accurate measurements. They were asked to cross their right leg over their left knee. A special 3-D scanning system was used to take precise pictures of their spine and pelvis. Measured the straight distance from the base of the neck to the middle of the low back. Measurements were taken three times while sitting normally (un-crossed) and then three times 20 minutes after crossing the leg. The average was used for the results. How Does Sitting Cross-Legged Affect Our Spine? The 3-D scans showed that after sitting with one leg crossed for 20 minutes, there were significant and clear changes in both measurements: The measured length of the torso became shorter (went from about 471 mm to 459 mm) and the pelvis twisted significantly. In simple terms, crossing the right leg caused the entire torso to shorten and the pelvis to rotate backward on the right side. This twisting created an S-shape in the spine (curved inward on the right, outward on the left), which is a sign of a spinal deformity. The researchers concluded that crossing a leg while sitting, even if it feels comfortable, can be dangerous: It makes the two sides of the body uneven (asymmetrical), which forces the spine to twist.This twisting of the pelvis and spine can lead to conditions like scoliosis (a sideways curve of the spine) and other spinal deformities over time.While some people with different leg lengths cross their legs to fix an imbalance, most people do it simply because it's a habit.
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