Can Crossing Your Legs Lead to Back Pain?

Crossing your legs seems like a perfectly harmless act. Everyone does it (usually on a daily basis), and most people don’t even think twice about it. Although there are no immediately recognizable negative effects of crossing your legs, other than a brief tingling sensation in your foot, it can lead to some unseen consequences when it comes to your back and spine. Read on to learn more about how leg crossing can impact your back.

The Effects of Leg Crossing

The main issue is that crossing your legs makes it almost impossible to sit perfectly straight. In turn your body will become used to this lopsided position, and your pelvis may slowly rotate over time and become tilted.

In the long-term, a tilted pelvis caused by leg-crossing can result in extreme lower back pain and discomfort, while continuing to sit in this way may result in more severe misalignment of the spine. Sufferers are often known to experience chronic pain particularly in the lumbar of the spine but this can move all the way up to your neck.

Improper posture can cause your muscles to work overtime to compensate for the posture changes, resulting in more pain and stiffness. This, combined with leaning to the side, can result in an extremely slouched posture and pain as your muscles become compressed within your shoulder blades. A slouched posture will usually result in rounded shoulders which then impacts your range of movement in the shoulder, leading to decreased movement which can impact everyday tasks.

So, Should I Stop Crossing my Legs Completely?

Crossing your legs can be incredibly comfortable – that’s why many people do it on a regular basis. So should you completely cut leg crossing out of your routine? Truth be told, crossing your legs once in a while or for short periods of time probably will not hurt your back that much. But keeping your legs crossed for lengthy periods of time, and simply sitting down for long periods of time, can lead to the development of lower back pain.

So cut out the sitting from your routine as much as possible. Get up from your desk and walk to the water cooler once every hour. Better yet, invest in a stand up desk if your office allows it. Whatever you can do to keep your body active and avoid long periods of sitting (with or without crossed legs) will ultimately benefit your spine health and reduce back pain.