Please verify your email address to receive email notifications.

Enter your email address

We have sent you a verification email. Please check your inbox and spam folder.

Unable to send verification, please refresh and try again later.

  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Why does it hurt when I get up from sitting?

  • Find a professional to answer your question

  • 2

    Thanks

    I studied at Macquarie University completing both Bachelor and Master degree's. While there I was the Vice President of MUCSA (Macquarie University Chiropractic Students Association) … View Profile

    It depends on a lot of different factors like the location of pain, its quality, how it came about and a whole raft of different things. Having said that, by far the most common injury I see in clinic of pain and stiffness from sitting to standing is an injury to the sacroiliac joint and especially the long dorsal sacroiliac ligament. These patients usually do what I call the ‘granny walk’ where they get up, experience pain, and takes a few steps to straighten up because of stiffness and or pain. It accounts for around 29% of people experiencing low back pain under the age of 55 and is a very common thing we see in clinic. My suggestion would be to ice the area for 10 mins, 5-7 times a day and see your local chiropractor as soon as possible because we are experts in the treatment of these types of injuries.

  • 5

    Thanks

    Paul is a Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist with 30 years experience, and has been running Concord Sport & Spine Physiotherapy for 25 years. He has … View Profile

    In my experience over 90% of people with low back pain find sitting makes their pain worse. Often, the effect sitting has will not be noticed until the person goes to stand up. There are a few possible structures that can cause this. In my opinion a strain to the intervetebral disc is the most lilely structure. 64% of pain-free individuals have bulging discs. So a disc can bulge without being painful. But when they do become painful sitting will contribute because it leads to a build up of pressure in the back of the disc where the bulge is located. On standing up, pressure is suddenly applied to the painful tissues. This typically settles as pressure eases after seconds to minutes of walking. This is the most common type of back pain that physiotherapists manage. It is likely to respond well to specific exercises and possibly some work on posture. Like most persistent pain problems, long-term relief can only come from addressing the problem and making chhanges to the factors that cause it. This is what a physiotherapist will help you with.

answer this question

You must be a Health Professional to answer this question. Log in or Sign up .

You may also like these related questions