https://www.listennotes.com/e/db0b5239fbf64acdab1dc03763a8b1de

Welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor, where each week we deliver the latest chiropractic research and marketing strategies, all in the time it takes to get to your office. Now, here's your host, Dr. Jeff Langmaid.

Hello and welcome to the Evidence Based Chiropractor.

I'm your host, Dr. Jeff Langmaid.

On today's episode, we're gonna talk about.

Sedentary behavior and the question of does it actually cause spinal pain in children and adolescents?

This is a brand new study. We're gonna dive into the findings, what it means in your practice, and how.

You can appropriately position this information in your community. Now, before we get started, I wanna say a few words about Neckcare, the best objective assessment tool of the cervical spine.

It has reliable assessments and exercises for.

Neuromuscular control, proprioception, range of motion and sensory motor integration.

If you're gonna be at Parker Seminars.

Swing by their booth. I will be there some of the.

Weekend, so be sure to check out.

Necare.Com I will drop that link down in the show notes, but as I.

Said at the top, we are talking.

Research on today's episode.

The title of the study is does.

Sedentary behavior cause Spinal pain in Children and Adolescents? It's a brand new study.

I will drop a link down in.

The show notes so you can check it out. And this systematic review and meta analysis was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. And what they did was they analyzed over 120 individual studies to explore whether sitting for long periods, especially with screen.

Time, actually increases the risk of spinal.

Pain in young people. As you can imagine, this is an.

Exceptionally hot topic when everybody is talking about screen time, technique, all of these things. And we know kids, teenagers, adolescents are spending more time than ever before sitting, watching screens and using devices.

So the question becomes, how is this impacting their health? Now, I want to get a few things straight before we dive into this research, which is this is just one study.

So there are many things to consider.

When we talk about overall spinal health and screen time.

And, and it goes beyond spinal health.

Into mental health as well. This is one study with a very, very specific focus.

So as we talk about the findings here, please keep in mind that as.

With any good studies, they start the story and stimulate more questions more so than definitive answers. So this study is important for a variety of reasons.

One, spinal pain is really common in kids, teens and adolescents. You probably see it in your practice each and every day. In nearly 4, 40% of people under.

19 report experiencing spinal pain. That is a Massive statistic.

We also know that chronic or recurrent.

Pain affects nearly one quarter of kids.

And teens, impacting things like school attendance.

Daily activities, quality of life.

That life effect or life impact, that's.

Always super critical cause remember, people do not come into your practice because of pain. They come in because of the life.

Impact or life effect of that pain.

People will live with pain for a long time, as you well know. And, and it's only when it disturbs their quality of life to a certain extent that they say, I'm going to get taken care.

I'm going to go take care of this. Now that could be for somebody that works out three times a week, injures themselves.

Last week they missed two workouts.

That's their impact, quality of life.

They're going to say, I'm coming in today. Other people, 10, 20, 30.

How long you been living with this?

40 years. Right.

We hear that all the time.

So it's important always to keep in.

Mind this is about function and quality.

Of life when people come in to.

See you and connecting what you're finding.

During your examinations and setting your goals based upon that life impact and life.

Effect in a literal, direct manner, verbally, critically important.

Because if you're just trying to play.

Whack a mole with pain, the good news is what we do can decrease pain really quickly.

But there is so much more to life than just not living in pain.

So important to keep that in mind. Spinal pain in teens, kids, youths, strong.

Predictor of adult back pain, which is.

The leading cause of disability worldwide, as.

You'Re probably super aware of. And sedentary behavior, especially super long periods of time on screens, is often blamed for this trend.

But the evidence has been a little inconsistent. So this study analyzed 129 reports, both.

Cross sectional and longitudinal studies to try.

To clarify this relationship.

And here's where we can get into some of the stats. The research broke the results into three parts.

Cross sectional data, which kind of snapshot studies, longitudinal data, which is tracking over time and prognosis. So let's start with that cross sectional data or the snapshots based on 115.

Studies with 92,000 participants.

A lot of people, sedentary behavior showed a small but statistically significant association with spinal pain. So the odds, the adjusted odds ratio was 1.25, meaning kids with higher sedentary behavior had a 25% higher odds of reporting spinal pain.

But there was a catch.

There's a low certainty of evidence, meaning the association was pretty weak and it might not be causal. It might be correlative rather than causative.

And neck pain seemed to be the.

Most common type associated with sedentary behavior.

Which makes total sense given on the tech or text, depending upon who you are, tech or text, neck phenomenon.

So one of the direct quotes from the study was, quote, cross sectional data.

Suggest minimally higher odds of spinal pain for children, adolescents who engage in greater sedentary behaviors.

So cross sectional data basically showcased and I don't know, 25% higher odds sounds.

Like a lot to me.

So 25% higher odds, if you can knock that down by encouraging people to move more.

And as we already know, this is about spinal pain.

But moving more means you're probably gonna have better fitness. It probably means you're gonna have better.

Mental acuity, probably means you're gonna feel.

Better about yourself, amongst a host of other benefits with actually being physically active. But when we strictly talk about spinal pain, 25% higher chance that they're gonna experience pain, that's a good stat. And that is something you can definitively highlight to the parents, patients coming in, kids themselves. It's something you can highlight across all your social channels.

That is a great stat to share.

Because, you know, do you want to reduce the opportunity and likelihood of your.

Kid having spine pain by 25%?

Keep them active.

That's a great story, that's a great.

Headline and that's something that can definitely get some attention in your community. And it's based upon a really great piece of research.

Next, let's dive into longitudinal data.

This was tracking over time. This is where things start to get pretty, pretty interesting.

So a lot less studies, 14 longitudinal.

Studies, way less participants, 1,292 participants, and.

They found no real significant link between.

Sedentary behavior and the onset of spinal pain over time.

So the adjusted risk ratio here was 1.07, meaning there's not really any strong.

Evidence that too much sitting can cause future pain. It also suggested that, that from a recurrent pain perspective, long term sitting, specifically in adolescence, didn't really showcase that causative effect.

Now, if I'm reading the adjusted risk ratio correctly, I'm not a statistical analysis.

But statistical analyst, I should say 1.07. If the last one was 1.25, that means a 7% chance it might not.

Reach a statistically relevant threshold based upon the data. But 7% to me is still pretty meaningful if there's a 7% higher chance.

That you're going to have the onset of spinal pain over time. Hey, why wouldn't you be trying to.

Do everything you can not to have that, not only for the benefit of.

Not having pain, but also all the other benefits. We talked about biopsychosocial so important to keep that in mind.

And then prognosis of spinal pain. And there are no real studies, interestingly.

Which is a great opportunity for any researchers listening.

There were no real studies that assessed.

How sedentary behavior impacts the prognosis of.

Spinal pain once it starts. This is a huge gap in the.

Research and a massive opportunity for anybody.

Who is research inclined that might be listening. Identifying the prognosis of spinal pain based upon sedentary behavior.

Really, really, really great opportunity to highlight what that looks like. So what was the big takeaway? Well, the big takeaway was that sedentary behavior is a part of spinal pain.

But might not be a primary part in adolescence.

The pain and sedentary relationship might actually, you know, it plays both sides. And this is what I we've seen this with adults as well, where you.

Can be super active can be a.

Challenge and super inactive can be a challenge. And as with most cases, they're a.

Bell shaped curve and the sweet spot is somewhere in between. So for you, encouraging the parents to encourage their kids for regular movement breaks throughout the day is just still a really good idea. Even if sitting isn't the direct cause, moving helps with overall spinal health. Unequivocally, neck positioning posture still matters, especially with devices. So educate on ergonomics.

Teaching about ergonomics in your practice, teaching about ergonomics outside of your practice at.

Other businesses, potentially at schools.

Really important.

I forget the exact numbers, but the tilt, that flexion of the neck, the.

Farther that flexion goes, the poundage, so to speak, the weight that's placed upon.

The vertebra and the discs increases exponentially. So when you see people in that tech neck posture, not only can it.

Cause what I guess would be upper.

Cross syndrome, but it also can just really create and wreak havoc long term. Again, as days become weeks, become months, become years, become decades, become a lifetime.

Overloading our joints and not having the proper checks and balances. What do I mean by checks and balances?

You can overload a joint before it.

Gets to the threshold of injury.

Many, many times.

However, I'm gonna say that if you're doing that, I'd probably suggest you stay active.

You go through range of motion exercises, you take care of yourself, whether that's ice or heat.

You're doing stretching, maybe yoga, and you're.

Getting adjusted every now and again. It's a really good idea to make.

Sure that your biomechanics are as sound.

As they can be. And getting adjusted is absolutely part of.

That, especially if you're spending long hours on these devices. And I think just promoting active lifestyles, as you probably already do in your.

Practice, sports, outdoor play, simple stretching, all of these things can really, really help people reduce the risk of spinal pain.

And again, as we see young people, adolescents, teens spending more and more time on their devices, it's important to also.

Encourage what I'm gonna say the other.

Side of the coin is, okay, putting thresholds on that, encouraging people getting out and playing and then taking the right.

Action steps in their life in order to offset those challenges so that, knock on wood, it doesn't become a problem over time. And this also goes to movement variability. So sitting, standing, moving, stretching, all of those things as opposed to this, like this fixed position, that tends to be.

The real big challenge. So in my opinion, when I look at this, I see there's clear need for more research in terms of understanding.

How sedentary behavior impacts the prognosis of pain.

And I'm gonna encourage again, everybody, anybody.

Listening that has an inkling towards that to please go for it.

So we know sedentary behavior is associated with spinal pain in young people.

That association might be a little weaker.

Than we initially thought, but it is still a factor and there's a big research gap in understanding those outcomes.

So how can you lead the charge? You can lead the char this by educating your patients, by promoting movement, by advocating for more research. All of those things you can do literally in your practice today to help people understand. If you want to reduce the risk.

Of the likelihood of encountering us back pain, neck pain, if you just want to say it plain, plain and simple, you can actually decrease that by up.

To 25% or more by making sure.

You stay active, stay adjusted, stay, stay.

Stretching, stay moving, all of those things. So this research study was a good one in my opinion because it was the first time I really saw that percentage laid out. And again, I believe that's a fantastic.

Talking point for you in your practice.

So you can download this study. I'll drop a link down to it in the show notes. Please go over and check it out.

Before we wrap up, I want to say a few words about TurnCloud.

TurnCloud's design was to help you find the most efficient path in your day. They stripped away anything that's not essential, made everyday functions simpler. Turncut ehr you can create.

They've created an intuitive application where nobody needs a user manual that is a really, really great, unique selling proposition.

Nobody needs a user manual. You can learn more, Connect with their.

Team turncloud.com if you've been listening to this podcast, this is your first episode. Thanks for tuning in. If you've been a long term listener.

Thank you so much. If you have not left a rating or review, I would love it if you would do so. You can scroll down on your phone.

If you're listening on Apple podcasts, tap.

How many stars, Leave me a line of text and feedback.

I'd love it.

If you have any specific questions, you.

Can always hit me up.

Jeff the evidencebasedchiropractor.com Other than that, I.

Hope you have a fantastic week in.

Practice and I will talk to you soon.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Evidence Based Chiropractor. If you want to grow your practice, come back for next week's episode. If you want to grow faster, visit the evidencebasedchiropractor.com and join our MD Marketing membership today.

Sam.