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Coccyx Cushion are beneficial? If so how ? Whats logic behind this? And there any drawbacks too?
I’m almost sitting on my laptop desk for 8-10 hours daily. And one thing I face is back pain. Here i came across to this “coccyx cushion”.Is it worth to use? And how it works? What the science behind its shape? And is there any drawbacks or disadvantages of using it continuously?
As some reviewers complains about the numbness of legs if constantly used for much longer time.
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2 Replies
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Hey ,
A cushion like this could bring relief when the root cause lies in for example misalignment of the hips. However, there can be various reasons why you might have lower back pain. For example: problems with a disc or bones will not be helped with a cushion. Finding out the root cause is step 1!
Your sitting position can also be a root cause. Before buying a cushion, check your sitting position for the following things:
• In a good sitting position, you should be able to put your feet on the ground with your knees slightly lower than your hips.
• If your chair or desk is too high, you could use a footrest to raise your knees.
• Slouching can contribute to back pain. Although not everyone who slouches gets back pain, slouching can contribute to back pain when other issues in the back are present (old injuries for example).Sitting too long can on itself create back pain. The discs in your vertebrae might start losing their cushioning. As a result, there’s sharp, chronic back pain. Even with cushions, it is important that you’re not sitting too long.
Weakened core muscles can also be a root cause of bad sitting positions. Your core muscles include the ones on your sides and in your back, hips, abdomen, and buttocks. If these are weak, they may not be supporting your spine well enough, leading to pain. A coccyx cushion wouldn’t work in this case either. Often a wobble cushion is advised, but I would recommend strengthening your core with the right type of exercises. The strength built from exercise isn’t compared to building strength with these types of cushions. A stronger core translates to a better sitting posture as well.The shape of the cushion is designed to redistribute pressure away from the coccyx. Numbness of the legs can occur when the sciatic nerve is getting too much pressure for too long. The sciatic nerve goes from the spine, through your but to your legs. It lies behind the piriformis muscle which is a flat, narrow muscle. It runs from your lower spine through your butt to the top of your thighs.
By the looks of the designs of the cushion, it is likely more pressure is redistributed to the area of the piriformis. For some people, this can cause numbness in the leg.
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I’d also like to add to Daniel’s reply. I used to sell and distribute upright furniture (all in the name of health and fitness). Since we spend most of our waking hours seated, it’s a very unnatural position for our bodies to be in and the lack of movement negatively influences our health at a cellular level.
I switched to an upright desk and leaning seat by Focal Upright ages ago and recommend it to anyone with lower back pain. As Daniel mentioned, the goal is to have your knees at a 45 degree angle (lower than hips) in order to open up the angle of your hips. By doing so, the spine naturally straightens up as opposed to a 90 degree angle when seated in a chair which causes a C-shape curve to the spine, and requires conscious effort to sit up “straight”.
The next piece to the puzzle is movement. My setup allows me to go from a leaning position when tired of standing, to an upright standing position. This creates constant movement while working. Sitting all day and standing all day both come with health risks – so if you can create an work environment that allows for small movements throughout the day, that’s ideal. The bonus is burning around 500 calories more per day! Standing is exercise!
You can also check out the Versa Desk which allows you to use your existing desk with a riser for your computer to get you standing.
Hope this gives you a few other solutions to consider.
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