How do you like to sit when you’re at the office? How about the dinner table? The bus? Many people are most comfortable sitting with one leg crossed over the other. Sure, your foot may go numb from time to time, but it’s comfortable and it works for you. But is it doing you more harm than good?
People have long believed that crossing your legs while sitting is bad for you. It’s said to cause varicose veins, birth complications for pregnant women, and high blood pressure. Keep reading to learn the reasons why you shouldn’t sit cross-legged
1. Neck and back pain
People who usually sit with their legs crossed may pose a greater risk of neck and back pain than others. If you also cross your legs repeatedly while sitting, you can soon feel its effect. When you sit in this position for too long, it can imbalance the pelvis and bend your hips slightly. And soon, your spine will have to bear extra pressure due to the sitting position. As a result, you are exposed to neck pain and back pain.
2. High blood pressure
When you get your blood pressure tested, you’re usually asked to place both feet on the ground. This is because crossing one of your legs over the other can cause a temporary spike in blood pressure.
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing found a significant increase in blood pressure when participants crossed their legs at the knee level. There was no spike when legs were crossed at the ankle.
Another study, published in the Journal of Hypertension, found a slightly bigger spike in blood pressure when participants crossed their legs by putting their ankle on their knee.
While these studies support the claim that crossing your legs can raise your blood pressure, they only showed a temporary increase. However, if you already have high blood pressure, try to avoid spending long periods of time with your legs crossed just to be safe.
3. Permanent nerve damage
Perhaps you already know that the sciatic nerve is the largest in your body and it extends from the lower back to the bottom of your feet. However, applying pressure on the sciatic nerve by sitting on the cross-legged may cause tingling and numbness. If you pay no attention to it, it can cause permanent nerve damage. As a result, you will face leg deterioration and long-term numbness. Furthermore, it may cause temporary paralysis in the feet, ankles, and legs.
4. It affects your blood circulation
Cross-legged sitting can be a way for you to reach happiness and comfort, but it may not be so when you know that it affects your blood circulation. Experts believe that this sitting position can severely affect our body’s blood circulation. During this sitting position, you place one leg on top of the other. So, it can pump large amounts of blood into your heart. As a result, it leads to negative blood circulation in your body.
5. It can lead you to joint pain
People who sit with their legs crossed for hours a day can face joint pain more than others. Cross-legged sitting can over-stretch the muscles and ligaments around your knees, putting more pressure on the knees. And the pressure on your knee joints keeps increasing. This is why you could easily have swelling and pain. You need to restrict yourself sitting in this particular position to give some sort of relief to your knees.
6. Posture
While most of the common myths about sitting with your legs crossed aren’t entirely true, there is one possible side effect that’s often ignored — poor posture.
Sitting for long periods of time with your leg over your knee can cause your pelvis to rotate and tilt. This can cause pain in the lower back. It could also lead to a misalignment of your spine over time.
When you have improper posture, your muscles are forced to compensate. This means they work harder then they need to, which can lead to pain and stiffness.
7. Varicose veins
For many years, rumors have circulated that crossing your legs can cause varicose veins. This is a myth.
Varicose veins are those bulging, twisting, cord-like veins that pop out of your legs. While they’re often blue, they can also be red or flesh-colored. They’re usually found on the thighs, backs of the calves, and inner leg. Anyone can get varicose veins, but they tend to be more common in older women and pregnant women.
Varicose veins form because of a problem with the valves in your veins, which work very hard to pump blood up toward the heart. As the blood moves upward, one-way valves open and close, preventing blood from leaking back down.
When these valves are weakened or damaged, however, the force of gravity pulls blood back down. This is known as venous insufficiency. Veins become varicose when that blood gets backed up, collects, and causes bulging.
Both standing and sitting for very long periods of time may increase your risk of developing varicose veins, but there’s no evidence that crossing your legs has this effect. If you’re concerned about developing varicose veins, try to change the position of your legs throughout the day.
8. Other risks of sitting in one place all-day
Sitting cross-legged or in one place for hours can damage your heart health. Sitting for too long can damage your heart a little more. Consequently, you can have cardiovascular diseases. In addition to heart diseases, you can get in touch with the risk of diabetes. This can be shocking, but prolonged sitting can indeed increase the risk of some types of cancer such as colon, uterus, and lung cancer.
Sources: trendingposts.net, healthline.com
