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Pain when sitting
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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It is surprising that when sitting, the load on the spine is greater than when standing, so pain often occurs when sitting. The most harmful position can be called sitting with a forward tilt, since the edges of the vertebrae are brought together and thus the intervertebral discs consisting of cartilaginous tissue are pinched.
[ Causes of pain when sitting
Lumbago is a disease accompanied by a dull aching pain that can spread to the leg and buttock, increasing with a change in body position, such as sitting, walking, bending. It can occur after intense physical exertion, a bumpy ride, hypothermia, or a prolonged uncomfortable position. The process is often chronic or subacute. Pain occurs when palpating the interspinous ligaments and spinous processes at the level of the suspected lesion. Reflexes are preserved when testing the Achilles tendons and knee reflexes. Bending the body forward is accompanied by a sharp tension in the back muscles, and bending the body back - the disappearance of pain.
Inflammation of the sciatic nerve (sciatica). The nerve extends from the spine to the lower extremities. When using a tightly tightened belt or when sitting on a hard surface, compression of the upper sections of the sciatic nerve may occur, which manifests itself as a fairly strong acute pain in the legs when sitting (along the nerve).
Knee joint pain. This type of pain includes painful sensations that increase with increasing load on the patella-patellar joint, spreading across the knee joint and concentrating on its anterior surface. Chondromalacia of the patella occurs in the process of changing the cartilaginous tissue of the patella (its inner surface). The symptoms include pain in the knee joint, on its anterior surface, increasing with different loads when sitting. The pain may increase when running, going down or up the stairs, or sitting with bent legs.
Prostatitis. Often prostatitis is accompanied by such a symptom as pain in the lower back. The pain in this disease manifests itself so strongly that it causes poor sleep, discomfort during sexual intercourse, constantly creates a large number of inconveniences that interfere with a person's normal life. Pain when sitting, urinating, during sexual intercourse or when abstaining from sexual life are typical symptoms of prostatitis.
Coccygeal pain is a pain syndrome, accompanied mainly by manifestations of severe pain in the coccygeal region, in other words, in the lower spine. The pain can spread to the hips, perineum and lower abdomen and intensify when walking, sitting and straining the abdominal muscles.
Acute back pain of varying intensity is observed in 80-100% of citizens. 20% of adults experience periodically occurring, recurring back pain lasting 3 days or more. Experts have found that the pressure between the intervertebral discs increases 2 times when changing body position from lying to vertical and 4 times when sitting in a comfortable chair.
Squatting and deep knee bending put a lot of stress on the joints. This can result in a rupture of the tendons and cartilage of the quadriceps femoris. Some people experience joint pain for a very long time when squatting for a long time for this very reason.
Patellofemoral pain is pain that occurs in the knee joint. This type of pain includes the development of painful sensations along the entire anterior surface of the knee joint, which become more intense with a large load on the patellofemoral joint (this is the joint that formed from the kneecap (patella) and the underlying part of the femur). When this pain is accompanied by a change in the tissue (cartilage) of the inner surface of the patella, the term "chondromalacia patellae" is used. Among the characteristic symptoms, it is necessary to note pain along the entire anterior surface of the knee joint, which intensifies with load, for example, when running, climbing or descending stairs, squatting or jumping. Pain when sitting can also intensify if the patient sits with bent legs.
Who should you contact if you have pain when sitting?
If you experience pain when sitting, you need to find out the nature of this disease. It is recommended to visit the following specialists: urologist, neurologist and traumatologist.