Standing Desks: Do they really help with back pain, neck pain and your overall health?

Standing desks have gotten very popular over the last few years and for good reason. Being sedentary can lead to numerous health complications. Just the fact that you aren't sitting the whole day is better for your health. But what about neck and back pain?

Studies have shown that someone who sits all day is prone to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, neck, and back pain. This is especially true if you are not getting up regularly to move. Studies have shown that participants reported a 32% decrease in back pain when using a sit to stand desk! It was also shown to increase productivity by 45% during a study in a call center. 

Standing desks also have been shown to help increase mood and energy levels of employees and have an overall positive effect on your health. A seven week study had subjects rate their mood before using the standing desk regularly, while using the standing desk, and after returning to their normal sitting desk. Their mood increased when at the standing desk and decreased again to pre-experiment levels after returning to a sitting desk. 

So the long and the short of it is that standing desk DO help your neck and back pain AND are better for your health when done as prescribed, 1 hour standing 1 hours sitting and repeat throughout the day. This is because standing too much can lead to foot/leg pain or blood collecting in your veins leading to varicose veins. 

You also want to make sure you are standing with good posture and use a padded mat. You can build up to your standing time if you need to do so. Otherwise, you could end up with more back pain or plantar fasciitis because you made a change too quickly. 

So ease into it but the sit to stand desk overall will help lead to better health. If you reduced your sitting time to 3 hours/day it would raise human life expectancy by two years!  Plus, it will help with your back and neck pain!

Sources: Healthline.com, webmd.com, clevelandclinic.org/will-standing-work-improve-health,