Sitting cross-legged hurts the spine

Many people often sit with their legs crossed without knowing that this is a bad habit, the cause of many dangerous diseases, and is harmful to the spine and pelvis.

This sitting position is especially bad for people with weak constitutions because it can easily cause leg cramps, especially when sitting for a long time.

Early osteoarthritis

Degeneration is common in people aged 40 - 60 due to old age, history of joint trauma, congenital articular cartilage disease, joints under frequent pressure due to occupation or sports. However, the disease is now appearing in many young people, the cause of which is often sitting cross-legged.

When sitting in this position for a long time, the leg is compressed and has to bear the pressure of the other leg for a long time, causing the knee to degenerate and wear down, leading to degenerative arthritis.

Correct sitting posture

In addition, when sitting with your legs crossed, the kneecap will rub against other bones, causing pain in the front of the knee joint. For those who already have knee pain, sitting with your legs crossed will cause the degenerative cartilage to be pressed and twisted, making the condition worse. Therefore, this habit should be changed as soon as possible.

Poor blood circulation

Sitting with your legs crossed will cause blood to stagnate in your legs, causing swelling in your ankles and legs. Therefore, you should gently massage from your ankles up to your thighs to reduce the risk of blood clots forming in the blood vessels in your legs.

Increased risk of varicose veins

Sitting cross-legged causes the legs to be compressed, blood circulation is not good, increases the risk of varicose veins, even causes swelling of the lower legs, difficult wound healing...

Impact on reproductive health

For men, sitting with legs crossed increases the temperature inside the legs and around the genitals, affecting sperm formation.

Causing spinal curvature

Sitting cross-legged not only causes leg pain, swelling, and varicose veins, but more dangerously, it can also cause scoliosis, damaged discs, etc. due to prolonged incorrect sitting posture.

Correct sitting posture

To avoid the harmful effects of sitting cross-legged regularly, the best sitting position to relax your legs is to stretch your legs straight, place both feet in contact with the floor, and have your thighs perpendicular to your calves.

You can adjust the height of the seat, add a wooden footrest or choose a sitting position so that your legs are comfortably stretched out as instructed. If you want to change your position, you can gently swing your legs to exercise for a few minutes, then gently catch your legs at the ankles.

In addition, for office workers who have to sit for long periods of time, in addition to leg posture, other body positions can be adjusted to limit harmful effects on health, helping you live healthier, such as: Keep your shoulders straight, sit up straight, pelvis tilted slightly forward, do not bend your wrists because bending your wrists when typing on the keyboard regularly will compress the nerves in the wrists, which is the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome.

According to VNN