The effectiveness of saddle chairs for reducing low back pain and increasing range of movement in general practising dental surgeons
Item
- Title
- The effectiveness of saddle chairs for reducing low back pain and increasing range of movement in general practising dental surgeons
- Author(s)
- Tong Platina
- Abstract
- Man spends a lot of his time in the seated position. Due to social and work pressures, man is used to sitting in sofas, arm chairs and cars. Sitting is seen as one of the main aetiological factors in the development of low back pain. Dental surgeons spend the majority of their working life sitting in an awkward flexed, bended and twisted position. The traditional 'correct' seating posture taught and adopted by almost everyone, is the 90° trunk to thigh model. This position, however, is not ideal. Sitting on a horizontal stool or chair, is thought to decrease the lumbar lordosis and encourage posterior pelvic rotation. It is this flexion of the spine that is thought to increase static loading on the intervertebral discs and create mechanical deformation of the surrounding soft tissue structures, thus, causing pain, particularly when these structures are contained many nociceptors and mechanoreceptors. Therefore, loss of lumbar lordosis is associated with lumbar spine pain. To maintain this lordosis, an angle of 135° between the hip and trunk is thought to be required. This can be done with the use of a saddle chair. Hence, the hypothesis proposed is: Saddle chairs have an effect on lumbar spine range of movement and pain levels. The null hypothesis is: Saddle chairs have no effect on lumbar spine range of movement and pain levels. 25 general practicing dental surgeons within central London were selected through personal contact, all experiencing low back pain. The results showed that the saddle chair did have a significant positive effect on the range of movement and the level of pain experienced at the 0.1% level (p<0.001). Hence, the null hypothesis was rejected. The discussion focuses on the interpretation of the resultsand any other relevant patterns or correlations. It also delves into any criticisms of the data and the investigation, and any further investigations that would be useful to do in the future. In conclusion, the investigation suggests that seating posture must be further researched, new postures and more beneficial postures must be taught to workers, and the workstation as a whole needs to be addressed. Seating is important, but so is the surrounding workstation in which individuals have to work in.
- presented at
- British College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Date Accepted
- 2002
- Date Submitted
- 1.11.2003 00:00:00
- Type
- undergraduate_project
- Language
- English
- Number of pages
- 75
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 13029
- Inst-Identifier
- 1076
- Keywords
- Back Pain,Low Back Pain,Dentists,Sitting,Chairs,Ergonomics
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Tong Platina, “The effectiveness of saddle chairs for reducing low back pain and increasing range of movement in general practising dental surgeons”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 4, 2025, https://www.osteopathicresearch.org/s/orw/item/1309