Ask HN: Do you have physical ailments from sitting all day?

Please don't make the mistake I made! I was working my first software job, and I started developing tingling and numbness in my feet that would gradually move up my legs if I continued sitting throughout the day. I tried to ignore the symptoms and push through it, and after a few months the buzzing/tingling in my feet and lower legs became permanent. I now live with constant tingling in my lower extremities, and I've had to reconsider career choices. I simply can't sit normally in a chair anymore for any extended period of time, due to discomfort. A career where I'm on my feet moving around a significant portion of the time is probably best for me.

I have what is called small fiber neuropathy, and I can't say for sure that sitting caused it, but I am certain that sitting and trying to ignore the problem at least exacerbated the symptoms and allowed them to become permanent. Unfortunately, my neuropathy is idiopathic, meaning the cause is unknown despite a 'million dollar' workup involving multitudes of tests, imaging, and various specialists. It's still not completely clear whether my case is a circulatory problem, a nerve entrapment problem, or both.

While I don't think you necessarily need to give up a career in software, I urge you to prioritize your health! I developed depression, due to both the health problems and the realization that working in software may not be a good idea for me. I still feel a bit lost, and a bit bitter, but I've improved, and at the end of the day, my health is more important. If you continue to have pain, keep trying different ideas to try to correct the problem, and seek out help from others, including doctors, physical therapists, ergonomists, etc.

Why did you refer to it as a "'million dollar' workup"? Can you explain the costs?

It's just an expression some of the doctors have used when talking with me, the costs haven't actually approached a million dollars. Basically, I've gone through all the tests and investigations the physicians can think of that might explain my neuropathy.

In terms of actual costs, it's totaled several thousand. This includes lab work, MRIs, seeing specialists, nerve tests, etc.

Other comments here seem to be more detailed and could help more, but I have a simple check to do. Is your chair at the right height?

If the chair is too low, your knees stay higher than your ass, and you ass sustain all of your upper body weight.

If the chair is too high, your knees stay lower than your ass, and your thighs sustain most of the weight. I suspect that what is happening to you as you say "I get this pain specifically where it makes contact with the chair".

Ideally, your knees form a 90º angle and you can feel the weight more uniformly distributed between your ass and your thighs.

If I were you I would reposition the chair's height so it is a little bit too low, purposefully relieving your thighs from the weight. Check if it helps with the pain. If it does, you can gradually adjust to the perfect 90º (or you will soon have the same pain in your ass).

Hi! I had serious problems from becoming gradually more sedentary through a desk job and less laborious lifestyle. I didn't have the same type of pain you describe, but I had some issues particular to my shape and proportions.

My life (as far as comfort, basic strength in daily movement, eliminating chronic back pain) was literally changed by Eric Goodman's Foundation Training. I simply cannot recommend it enough. Use the free stuff on YouTube for a while and see if it helps. If so, the DVDs have plenty of extra value.

I am not affiliated with Goodman or his company in any way.

I have a long track record of RSIs and other injuries that have affected my ability to sit and work at a desk, so I'm unfortunately very well-qualified to tell you what's worked for me. Despite it all, I still happily work a full-time desk job with the help of these coping mechanisms.

First, standing desk. You don't need to stand all day; in fact I don't recommend it. You just need to switch it up at least once an hour so you're never sitting for more than an hour. Find excuses to walk around, too -- a 5-minute stroll around the block is great for thinking.

Second, have you had an ergonomic evaluation? There may be something about your setup that's all wrong, and a professional can help you correct it.

Finally, consider going to physical therapy for your leg pain. A good physical therapist can identify posture problems that contribute to your pain, and give you exercises to correct it.

Hi Hluio, it's possible that the chair you are using is not ergonomically designed for your built.

Suggestions:

1. Find a right chair for you - a wrong chair can impede blood flow or when your sitting, it is actually pressing too much on your Sciatica Nerve. When you pressed on your Sciatica Nerve for a long time, you generate that tingling sensation that you are mentioning.

2. Stand up every hour (Use Apple Watch Reminder or anything that reminds you to stand up every hour) - this has the same concept of you sitting in a plane for a very long time. The circulation of blood is either being impede by your sitting position or it is not circulating properly due to sitting. As some would suggest, pump your feet, pump the blood from your foot up.

3. Use a standing desk

4. Ask for a recommendation of a Physical Therapist or go to a Doctor that specializes in Rehab Medicine. They know what to do. :)

Yes - I've had back, shoulder, leg & sciatic pain in the last few years all caused by a sedentary desk based career.

Physio and simple rehab exercises got me to a point where I could do structured exercise again. Then I built muscle tone back up through weightlifting and a better diet.

I can sit a full day now but notice that it isn't good for me. It's sustainable because I have a good chair, make sure I change position regularly, walk and stand hourly, take a longer break to get outside at lunch and put the hours in to keep muscles strong.

Having been there myself I know it's a struggle to need to work but also need to be able to get better too. If you would be interested in freelance projects I have a few things you could work on at your own pace while you work on improving your health. My e-mail is in my profile.

Could you point me in the direction of any good resources you've come across for managing sciatic and lumbar pain? I have had sciatica since high school, and it has caused me problems with employment in the past. Labor jobs severely aggravate it so even if I didn't love software it's still the best choice for me. It seems to feel a lot better the last few months but it comes back often without warning and sometimes prevents me from being able to walk.

My L4 and L5 are also fusing, and I have pain from my toes to my shoulders.

I don't have reliable means of transportation, so I'm limited to at-home exercises. But I need to do something about this before it gets even worse.

Thanks in advance~

Sciatic pain is the symptom, you will need to address the cause. Please don't do any exercises that aren't tailored to you. You could make things worse. If you've had it since high school then it really needs addressing by a professional.

Fortunately for me there was no underlying injury and my root cause was a combination of sitting posture, walking gait, muscle tone and genetics (nerve going through glute)

Having the regular physio sessions were by far the most helpful start and the at-home exercises just re-inforced the improvements made.

A couple of general resources I found helpful are the exercises on fixing forward head posture on YouTube and the videos by Kelly Starrett on fixing sitting posture.

For anyone suffering with chronic back pain - please give physio / chiro a chance. Don't just take painkillers for the rest of your life. It can get better.

Used to have all sorts of discomforts. Got a high-quality mesh chair (make sure the sitting part is a mesh too) and I swear I never had any ever since! Easily spend 14h on it everyday.

I also almost always sit in a lotus-like position[0]. Not sure if I have before, so perhaps that's a factor too.

[0] I'm sharing that as trivia but my other fav way is to fold one leg under my backside so that you're literally sitting on your foot, while the second leg is crossed over the other. The point is I'm pretty creative with my sitting position haha.

Can you share specifically which chair you bought?

Sitting lotus in most chairs is untenable...

http://ergohuman.com/ , all mesh. Perhaps the lumbar support is significant.

Just so we're on the same page, that's how I'm sitting right now: https://imgur.com/a/OvYO0

I got problems from clicking ever since I'm wroking on apps in emulators. The doctor said it's not dangerous though and if it gets more than just a bit annoying I assing the mouse-button to a keyboard key.

I love my chair: hag capisco https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bi... sadly slowly falling appart...

Sounds like Sciatica.

I had it a couple of years ago due to a lot of desk-sitting. The cure is simple, start exercising.I can personally recommend deadlifts and squats, and yoga or taijichuan.

And make sure your seat isn't too high or low. When sitting place your feet flat on the floor. Your heels shouldn't lift( and feet shouldn't hang) and your knees shouldn't be higher than your butt.

I've had arthritis issues in the past and the best thing I can recommend is make room in your day for 30+ exercise, eat decently and invest in a good, ergonomic chair. I know it's vague advice but just a vague diet and exercise routine, putting at least some thought and effort into it, was good enough to improve my health.

If you do interviews just ask about what kind of chairs they use and look at their surprised face.

What can you do? ask to bring your own chair. Lift weights plus others sports. Take a break regularly (I drink water so I have to use the bathroom periodically).

Yes, I experience it as well on a daily basis. What I've found really helpful was attending physiotherapy and deep tissue massage sessions along with deep breathing exercises. I do plan to exercise more and maybe take up yoga to see if it is completely healed but otherwise what I mentioned gets me through the day.

I invested approximately $400 into a standing desk. Probably the best $400 I have ever spent. It helps me with my horrible neck pain (developed from leaning towards LCD all the time) and the added bonus is better alertness and focus.

Not exactly physical ailment, but I don't sleep well if I spend most day just sitting and thinking.

My boss uses a desk which allows him to easily change its height. If he needs to stand for a while he just moves it up and can work while standing.

I think this might be a viable solution but depends on the company you are working at, as these desks obviously are more expensive.

Lift heavy things and do yoga.

I just use a and adjustable standing desk to alternate between sitting and standing during the day. When standing I'll adjust my position frequently.

The cost is $300, but that's cheaper than long-term health problems.

I'm curious if people here that have issues with sitting are also overweight? Also possible issues with dehydration and not getting enough sleep / exercise?

What about standing desks? Have you tried taking breaks every hour?

Ashtanga yoga kept me from a necessary career change. Sitting is very bad for me when I don't do anything to maintain low-back strength.