When a person's daily routine boils down to driving from home to the office and back, the body gradually adapts to a lack of movement. Physiotherapist and rehabilitation specialist Vladimir Karasenko explained why this lifestyle can lead to pain, according to infohub.kz.
The muscles of the legs and buttocks 'fall asleep.'
"You don't walk, you hardly climb stairs, you don't put your body weight on your legs. The gluteal muscles stop working — they're simply not needed if you sit all the time. The lower back takes on all the load. After a month, you notice: by evening your whole back aches," the doctor explains.
Moreover, he says, the neck begins to drift forward. That's because in the car a person sits leaning forward. At the office — at a computer. At home — on a phone. The head is constantly ahead of the shoulders.
Within a month, the neck and upper trapezius muscles get used to this position. You feel tension but don't connect it to your commute.
Joints lose mobility.
"The hip joints don't open up — you sit all the time. The ankles don't work — there's almost no walking. Lymph doesn't move — there's no muscle pump. By evening your legs swell, rings come off harder, and in the morning you wake up feeling drained," the rehabilitation specialist says.
Karasenko notes that after a month of such a routine, a person may feel about five years older. And that's not 'normal' — it's a signal that it's time to change something.
Earlier, Karasenko emphasized that blaming age for joint and muscle pain is a dangerous misconception. In his view, in most cases people themselves are to blame for the onset of discomfort.