Sitting cross-legged - Causes of many diseases

The posture of sitting cross-legged on the other leg is a frequent occurrence with many people. This seemingly harmless story has recently been discovered by scientists: the posture of sitting and crossing legs is the cause of many diseases.

Research shows that the consequences of sitting cross-legged for too long include: hypertension, varicose veins and nerve damage.

Spinal cord nerve paralysis syndrome

Sitting in a certain position for too long will cause your feet and feet to become numb . Sitting cross-legged can increase the pressure on the bone nerve in the back of the knee, which gives a feeling to the legs and feet, but the feeling of numbness is temporary. However, retaining your position for many hours can lead to fibrosis paralysis, which prevents you from lifting the upper half of your feet and toes. In fact, in order to feel that numbness does not happen due to sitting cross-legged, we should change our posture as soon as we feel uncomfortable.

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Sitting cross-legged can temporarily increase blood pressure.

Influence on blood pressure

When measuring blood pressure, the doctor or nurse often asks you to put your hand on the table and do not sit cross-legged. The reason is because they are concerned that sitting cross-legged will affect the results of the examination due to increased blood pressure. In 2010, many studies have shown that sitting cross-legged can raise blood pressure , while another study suggests that this does not make a difference. However, quite a few of these studies are small and rely on taking blood pressure results only once.

One of the larger studies was conducted in a hypertension treatment center in Istanbul (Turkey). Researchers here have recorded patients' blood pressure when sitting cross-legged and do not sit cross-legged. The result: the blood pressure index is higher when the patient is sitting cross-legged, but when the blood pressure measurement is taken only three minutes after the person has stopped sitting and catching the legs, the blood pressure returns to normal. People with the highest blood pressure when sitting cross-legged are often those who have been treated for hypertension. Researchers believe that one is because placing the thigh on the other thigh increases the amount of blood pushing away from the heart, causing blood pressure to rise. Another explanation is that blood pressure increases because the leg muscles move without the movement of joints, increasing resistance to blood flow through the blood vessels. This may also explain why putting your feet up on your ankles does not produce the same effect.

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Placing this thigh on the other thigh increases the amount of blood pushing away from the heart, causing blood pressure to rise.

In order to find a way to assess which explanation is correct, a study in Nijmegen in the Netherlands made many measurements with the body. The team found that resistance in the blood vessels did not increase when the heart rate slowed and the legs caught up, but blood flow from the heart increased, indicating that increased blood pressure was due to increased cross-legged blood pushing. about the heart. Thus, sitting cross-legged can temporarily increase blood pressure, but evidence of long-term consequences is not available. Except for one exception: people at risk of hematoma are advised not to sit cross-legged for a long time because, for them, obstructing blood circulation may increase the risk of deep blood clots forming in the vessels.

Sitting cross-legged causing varicose veins?

The cause of varicose veins is still a mystery. Normally small valves in the blood vessels help prevent blood from flowing in the wrong direction, but if these valves are weakened, blood can condense, forming large veins called dilated veins. The varicose veins can be affected by sitting cross-legged, because in this position long increases blood resistance to the heart, causing varicose veins.

The impact of sitting cross-legged with joints

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The number of people who often use the right foot on the left leg is nearly twice as high as the number of left footers on the right leg.

Research shows that people who sit cross-legged for more than three hours a day tend to lean forward and rotate their shoulders. But this study depends on each person's own estimate of the time they sit cross-legged. Studies published this year show that if people are asked to sit up straight while crossing their legs, problems will be overcome. An accidental point is that the number of people who often use the right foot on the left leg is nearly twice as high as the number of left footers.

Research by the University of Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, suggests that sitting cross-legged may be beneficial. Researchers have looked at the case of young men and women while they sit up straight, sitting cross-legged in the thighs or in the ankles. They found that sitting cross-legged can increase the elongation of the pear-shaped body by 11% when compared to sitting without cross-legged and up 21% compared to standing.

Therefore, if you like to sit cross-legged, you probably won't hurt yourself if you don't sit long until both feet are numb.

Back pain, neck pain

You will be at risk of back pain and neck pain if you cross your legs too often because your hips are twisted so that your pelvis is out of balance. This inadvertently puts pressure on your spine, resulting in uncomfortable spasms. Therefore, if you sit cross-legged daily, weekly, can be one of the reasons leading to back pain, neck pain and more serious disease of herniated disc.

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Sitting cross-legged can make your hip nerves numb, itchy, and gradually cause damage.

Injury of the sciatic nerve

Hip nerves play an extremely important role in the body. When you sit cross-legged, your hip nerves can become numb, itchy and gradually cause damage. Over time, if you do not change this habit, you may experience pain, loss of ability to bring your ankles and toes up when walking.

To limit the habit of sitting cross-legged, what to do?

  1. Avoid sitting cross-over posture for longer than 10-15 minutes.
  2. Every 30 minutes, stand up and walk a few times.
  3. Buy a back support chair.
  4. Always keep the feet on the ground and the knees create a 90 degree angle to the floor.

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