Back Pain & Standing Desks

STAND UP AND PLAY PREVENTION

I’ve suffered from lower back pain for nearly ten years now. I’m 28 years old and mildly active, so it’s quite an annoying thing to have to put up with. Over the years I’ve been taught various exercises by chiropractors and physios to manage the pain, but I think my terrible posture might be the reason for never getting rid of it.
Anyway, I can’t remember where I got the idea that ‘standing-desks’ could be a possible long-term preventative (probably the internet where all cool things come from). I thought by standing all day while working I might be able to remain more aware of slouching, balancing my weight on one leg more than the other and whatever else I do that is bad for me.
I tried doing some research (on the internet) into any studies on standing vs. sitting at work, but most of what I found was complaining by people like me who were giving it a go. Not even the Fox news website had anything scientific to report on it (no surprises there).
The writers / bloggers whose articles I read seemed more focused on the possibility of losing weight because standing rather than sitting should theoretically burn more calories per hour. Even that seemed too hard for some though, a lot of people just complained about the suffering they were enduring by having to stand and work for longer than an hour a day. I’m assuming none of them work at McDonalds or some place where sitting wasn’t an option, if that was the case I think the complaining would have been about the low pay and zero hour contracts instead of the never-ending struggle to find a way of losing weight without trying.
I do know that a sedentary lifestyle is not good for you, but I’m not convinced that standing up while you work is going to fix any of those health problems on its own. I think there’s a lot of other things that accompany a sedentary lifestyle that standing up can’t stand up to on its own.
I’ve been standing at work for 8 hours a day for about 8 months now and I’ve definitely noticed a decrease in the regularity of my back pain. I’ve been able to remain aware of my posture and balance a lot more thanks to my arms being kept at a height and position that makes it difficult to type if I begin to slouch and perhaps I’ve built more strength in my back and legs too. I feel a lot better both mentally and physically not being hunched over a desk all day and even if that’s the placebo effect, I love it. Fortunately it hasn’t affected my weight, so I’m still super buff and able to lift at least 5 kilos of laundry powder at once too.