What do you do for leg pain when you sit down?
January 3, 2022 10:00 AM Subscribe
I am currently making an appointment with my doctor and a physical therapist to specifically address this, but since it will be at least a few days and I have to work at my remote office job before that, can you give me any suggestions for addressing leg pain when you are seated?
Over the last few months, I have been feeling an increasing amount of pain / soreness in my right leg when I am seated, usually on a wooden chair. Initially it was achy, now its just sort of hurting, even after about 5, 10 minutes of sitting. So I stand up, stretch, walk around, it goes away. But then I gotta sit down and work, again.
Initially, I thought the pain in my leg was from a soccer injury, so I cut back on my old man pickup games. But I don't think its one-to-one related to exercise; I wasn't sitting much over the holidays and it wasn't bothering me, but now that I am back in the chair, it really is.
Admittedly, I mostly work from home in terrible ergonomic conditions, but even on the days I do go into an office with a real office chair, my leg still bugs me. Its also annoying when I drive.
All that extended explanation aside, do you have any practice at home that reduces pain in your legs from sitting?
Over the last few months, I have been feeling an increasing amount of pain / soreness in my right leg when I am seated, usually on a wooden chair. Initially it was achy, now its just sort of hurting, even after about 5, 10 minutes of sitting. So I stand up, stretch, walk around, it goes away. But then I gotta sit down and work, again.
Initially, I thought the pain in my leg was from a soccer injury, so I cut back on my old man pickup games. But I don't think its one-to-one related to exercise; I wasn't sitting much over the holidays and it wasn't bothering me, but now that I am back in the chair, it really is.
Admittedly, I mostly work from home in terrible ergonomic conditions, but even on the days I do go into an office with a real office chair, my leg still bugs me. Its also annoying when I drive.
All that extended explanation aside, do you have any practice at home that reduces pain in your legs from sitting?
Best answer: It can be very hard to diagnose because it can present in so many varied ways, but my guess would actually be sciatica. Mine feels at first like hip pain and then kind of starts shooting (but sometimes instead aching) down one leg.
Here are some physical therapists explaining stretches for sciatica.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:21 AM on January 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Here are some physical therapists explaining stretches for sciatica.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:21 AM on January 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Check your chair height? For me, chairs that were an OK height for meals or short periods of sitting proved to be not tall enough for longer working periods. This put strain on one knee/leg in particular because of how I was sitting. What I need is a taller and sturdier office chair, but since I can't afford one right now, I've raised the seat height with some serious cushions that don't compress to nothing. It makes a difference.
posted by wintersweet at 10:25 AM on January 3, 2022
posted by wintersweet at 10:25 AM on January 3, 2022
Response by poster: Describing the pain a bit more: its a sort of achy pain in / around my hamstring, and then down on the front of my lower leg, the shin. The ache increases the longer I sit. I wouldn't call it a sharp pain, more like dull throb / numb buzz. But if I don't stand up it'll just get more and more sore. So a pretty big area is sore. When it starts - a few minutes after sitting, its almost like a sore, pulled muscle (which is why I thought it might be a sports injury) and that feels worse than that. It doesn't hurt worse if I touch it, and massaging it feels good, but doesn't eliminate the pain.
The way Lyn Never describes it seems about right, maybe minus the "shooting" which doesn't seem to happen for me (yet).
posted by RajahKing at 10:46 AM on January 3, 2022
The way Lyn Never describes it seems about right, maybe minus the "shooting" which doesn't seem to happen for me (yet).
posted by RajahKing at 10:46 AM on January 3, 2022
Can you pull together a temporary standing desk situation to reduce the amount of time you are sitting? How does it feel when you walk? I would add several planned short walking breaks that you take before you feel any pain. So, every thirty minutes, walk for five minutes, that sort of thing. This is only if walking feels fine and good.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:36 AM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by bluedaisy at 11:36 AM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Also, swap out that chair for any other chair, or put a blanket on it, or something. Stop using it if at all possible.
posted by bluedaisy at 11:36 AM on January 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by bluedaisy at 11:36 AM on January 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If what you're experiencing is sciatica, the seventh stretch demonstrated in this article is what I've found to be the very best for relieving the discomfort.
posted by DrGail at 11:49 AM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by DrGail at 11:49 AM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
File this under longshot, but do you by chance carry your wallet (I am assuming from "old man pickup games" that you are a dude) in your right rear pocket? Believe it or not I had a friend who had this issue and the solution was for him to make sure he took his wallet out before sitting down because it was causing a slight imbalance in his hips, which was causing a shooting pain down his right leg.
posted by clownschool at 12:37 PM on January 3, 2022
posted by clownschool at 12:37 PM on January 3, 2022
Best answer: That sounds like an unhappy nerve going all the way down your leg. Likely something is pinching or inflaming it. I don't know a ton about sciatica but google sciatica because I think that's the usual cause of nerve pain in that region.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 1:02 PM on January 3, 2022
posted by nouvelle-personne at 1:02 PM on January 3, 2022
Best answer: I had something similar this past autumn - I bought a chair cushion at Costco which took care of the problem.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 1:23 PM on January 3, 2022
posted by Constance Mirabella at 1:23 PM on January 3, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
- where on your leg is the pain (like, mid-thigh, in the knee, front / back / side of the leg, etc)
- what kind of pain is it (dull throb, sharp spike, numb buzz, etc)
- is the pain in one place, or does it feel like it travels or spreads?
- how large is the painful area? (one inch area? 10 inch area? long line of pain, localized blob of pain?)
- does it hurt worse if you touch it
- when you feel the pain is there a way to lessen it (moving more, moving less, massaging, elevating, etc)
- how are you sitting when you feel the pain?
- what did you do before feeling the pain (went for a walk, yoga, woke up from a sleep on an old mattress, etc)
One weird source of pain for me when I had an office job was my jeans. I gained a bit of weight being sedentary and my jeans started being tighter, and when I sat for hours, the fabric compressed my kneecaps downwards and gave me knee pain. I needed looser pants (and to be less sedentary). Having a wallet in one bum pocket can also cause pain as it mis-aligns you.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:17 AM on January 3, 2022 [2 favorites]