Medical expert of the article
New publications
Pain when sitting
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Surprising is the fact that when sitting, the load on the spine is greater than when standing, so often there is pain in the seat. The most harmful position can be called a sitting with a forward slope, as the edges of the vertebrae converge, and thus the intervertebral discs consisting of cartilaginous tissue are trapped.
Causes of pain in sitting
Lumbalia is a disease accompanied by aching dull pain, which can spread to the leg and buttock, which increases with the change in the position of the body, for example, sitting, walking, bending. It can occur after a strong physical load, driving with shaking, hypothermia, a long uncomfortable pose. The process is often chronic or subacute. Painfulness occurs when the intercostal ligaments and spinous processes are felt at the level of the suspected lesion. Reflexes persist with approbation of calcaneal tendons and knee reflexes. The inclination of the body forward is accompanied by a sharp tension of the dorsal muscles, and the inclination of the body back is the disappearance of pain.
Inflammation of the sciatic nerve (sciatica). The nerve from the spine departs towards the lower extremities. When using a tightly tight belt, or when sitting on a hard surface, squeezing of the upper parts of the sciatic nerve may appear, which manifests itself in the form of quite severe acute pain when sitting in the legs (along the nerve).
Pain in the knee joint. Such pain can include such painful sensations, which increase with increasing load on the knee-patellar joint, spread along the knee joint and concentrate on its front surface. Chondromalation of the patella occurs in the process of changing the cartilaginous tissue of the patella (its inner surface). Symptoms are pain intensifying with different loads when sitting in the knee joint, on its front surface. Pain can increase with running, descending or climbing from the stairs, while sitting with bent legs.
Prostatitis. Often, prostatitis is accompanied by such a sign as a pain in the lower back. The pain with this disease manifests itself so strongly that it causes bad sleep, discomfort during sexual acts, constantly creates a large number of inconveniences that interfere with a person's normal life. Pain in sitting, urinating, with sexual intercourse or with abstinence from sexual life is a typical symptom of prostatitis.
Coccygeal pain is a pain syndrome, accompanied mainly by severe pains in the coccygeal area, in other words - in the lower spine. Pain can spread to the hips, crotch and lower abdomen and to increase with walking, sitting and straining the muscles of the abdominal press.
Acute pain in the back of one degree or another is noted in 80-100% of the citizens. In 20% of adults, periodic, recurring back pain with a duration of 3 days or more is observed. Specialists have found that the pressure that arises between the intervertebral discs increases by a factor of 2 when the body changes from a recumbent to a vertical one and four times when sitting in a comfortable chair.
When sitting on his haunches and with a deep bend in the knees, a very heavy load on the joints arises. As a result, there may be a rupture of the tendons and cartilages of the quadriceps femoris. In some people with prolonged squatting, it is for this reason that joint pains occur which last a very long time.
Patellofemoral pain is pain that occurs in the knee joint. This pain involves the development of painful sensations along the entire front surface of the knee joint, which become more intense when the knee-knee joint is heavily loaded (this joint is formed from the knee cap (patella) and the underlying femur - femur). When this pain is accompanied by a change in the tissue (cartilage) of the inner surface of the patella, the term "patella chondromalacia" is used. Among the characteristic symptoms, it should be noted the pain along the entire front surface of the knee joint, which increase with load, for example, when running, climbing or descending the stairs, squatting or jumping. Pain in sitting can also increase if the patient is sitting with legs bent.
Who should I contact if you have pain while sitting?
If you have pain while sitting, you need to find out the nature of the disease. It is recommended to visit the following specialists without fail: urologist, neurologist and traumatologist.