Lower Crossed Syndrome

Sitting is something that many people do all day long for their jobs. However this may be causing more problems than you may realize. One of them is a condition called Lower Crossed Syndrome. Lower Crossed Syndrome is a postural distortion disorder caused by sitting in a flexed position for extended periods of time. When you sit for long periods, it causes your hip flexors (the muscles on the front of your hips) to become tight and shorten up. The same goes for the muscles in your lower back, they become tight and short. This leads to a process known as reciprocal inhibition, meaning that the muscles opposite of the tight muscles will become inhibited, or weak. So the tight hip flexors cause your gluteal (butt) muscles to become weak and the tight lower back muscles cause your deep abdominal muscles to become weak. The combination of these factors can lead to many symptoms:

• Anterior hip pain
• Lower back pain
• Pelvic instability
• Knee pain
• Ankle/Foot pain

Some techniques that can be used to manage this condition:

• Myofascial release
• Chiropractic adjustments
• Trigger point therapy
• Stretching the tight muscles
• Strengthening the weak muscles
• Postural modification