I messed up my legs sitting on a concave chair for months. Anyone know how to fix this?

[worrywart]

Yes, I'm a moron. I keep doing silly things that mess me up.

It's a long story. My good chair was in another home, but I ended up not moving there as I had intended. I have retrieved it a couple weeks ago.

Basically I used a hard plastic chair where my butt would sink into the shalow concave hole, and my knees would be higher than my waist, for hours on end, every day. Turns out that's a big no-no.

Now I'm walking funny. Fantastic.

Lying down on my back with my legs straight is now uncomfortable. Maybe this is the fix. Just lie down with legs straight until it feels normal again. Maybe let my feet sink beyond the mattress.

I've been to a chiropractor twice since this began and it helped a bit. I do wonder if an osteopath would be more prudent. Someone on this forum said chiropractors made their back worse.

I'd appreciate any idea here.

 

[Peachy]

Maybe let my feet sink beyond the mattress.

That’s exactly what you do. Lie down in hooklying position on the very edge of the bed or couch and let your leg hang off. Make sure your pelvis doesn’t tilt (I like putting a pillow or my hands under my sacrum). Start with a minute or two on each side and build up.

Hooklying position:

 

[Metabolism_Red]

stretch hipflexors and lower back
strengthen glutes and abs
dead hang for a few minutes everyday

 

[worrywart]

Thanks, guys. I think I basically made my anterior pelvic tilt even worse.

 

[ollbin]

Yes, I'm a moron. I keep doing silly things that mess me up.

It's a long story. My good chair was in another home, but I ended up not moving there as I had intended. I have retrieved it a couple weeks ago.

Basically I used a hard plastic chair where my butt would sink into the shalow concave hole, and my knees would be higher than my waist, for hours on end, every day. Turns out that's a big no-no.

Now I'm walking funny. Fantastic.

Lying down on my back with my legs straight is now uncomfortable. Maybe this is the fix. Just lie down with legs straight until it feels normal again. Maybe let my feet sink beyond the mattress.

I've been to a chiropractor twice since this began and it helped a bit. I do wonder if an osteopath would be more prudent. Someone on this forum said chiropractors made their back worse.

I'd appreciate any idea here.

Prolonge muscle tention may cause vertebtae disalagment. You may discuss an issue with Chiropractor.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Yes, I'm a moron. I keep doing silly things that mess me up.

It's a long story. My good chair was in another home, but I ended up not moving there as I had intended. I have retrieved it a couple weeks ago.

Basically I used a hard plastic chair where my butt would sink into the shalow concave hole, and my knees would be higher than my waist, for hours on end, every day. Turns out that's a big no-no.

Now I'm walking funny. Fantastic.

Lying down on my back with my legs straight is now uncomfortable. Maybe this is the fix. Just lie down with legs straight until it feels normal again. Maybe let my feet sink beyond the mattress.

I've been to a chiropractor twice since this began and it helped a bit. I do wonder if an osteopath would be more prudent. Someone on this forum said chiropractors made their back worse.

I'd appreciate any idea here.

An inversion table works wonders.

 

[Layne]

I'd appreciate any idea here.

I think one of the best (and least expensive) things you can do, is acquaint yourself with the work of Pete Egoscue, and specifically the "Egoscue Tower". The below link will give you a good introduction to it. I have used it, and found it to be very beneficial for my overall structural balance. It's also very, very relaxing to just lay in the positions the Tower puts you in. -- Good luck!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAXaZ0xLWJg

 

[Dapose]

Walk more!
I know, I am a genius.
Thanks

 

[frannybananny]

I think one of the best (and least expensive) things you can do, is acquaint yourself with the work of Pete Egoscue, and specifically the "Egoscue Tower". The below link will give you a good introduction to it. I have used it, and found it to be very beneficial for my overall structural balance. It's also very, very relaxing to just lay in the positions the Tower puts you in. -- Good luck!


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAXaZ0xLWJg

If you don't have a tower or cannot make one can't you just do some of these positions by lying on the floor at the foot of the bed and putting your legs up on the bed? I do that sometimes when my back is bad and it is a relief. That and the inversion table that Rinse and Repeat mentioned.

 

[Layne]

If you don't have a tower or cannot make one can't you just do some of these positions by lying on the floor at the foot of the bed and putting your legs up on the bed? I do that sometimes when my back is bad and it is a relief. That and the inversion table that Rinse and Repeat mentioned.

Hi @frannybananny -- Yes, you can do that. What's interesting is that when I do the various levels in the Egoscue Tower, I can have very different experiences from one small increment to the next. Most of them are very relaxing for me, but sometimes an increment one way or the other can bring a sense of discomfort.

I take that as a sign my body is having to do some adjusting, and can't do it all at once. So I quit as soon as things get uncomfortable, and take it up again the next time I use it. Things generally smooth out over time the more I keep up with it. I'm currently lending my Egoscue Tower to a friend with serious chronic lower back pain. I'm curious to see whether or not it helps her.

 

[worrywart]

Thanks a lot, guys.

It's probably several factors. I'm reducing my kratom dosage (trying to quit) and was doing intermittent fasting as a quick fix for weight loss (Peat is right again, IF sucks), and dizziness is a common symptom both of kratom withdrawal and IF, but the plastic chair made it way worse.

I want to stop having trashy habits. I know my post history reads like a death spiral. I used be a well-behaved kid, best grades in class, didn't swear, no addictions, healthy, fit, happy. Then things went south two decades ago and here I am. But let's be optimistic. Thanks again for the tips, I'll be checking out these exercises.

 

[Peatress]

It sounds like your quads got shortened.

Fixing Tight Quads from Sitting, Running or Biking​

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq8ZEPSExYM

 

[cs3000]

Yes, I'm a moron. I keep doing silly things that mess me up.
It's a long story. My good chair was in another home, but I ended up not moving there as I had intended. I have retrieved it a couple weeks ago.

Basically I used a hard plastic chair where my butt would sink into the shalow concave hole, and my knees would be higher than my waist, for hours on end, every day. Turns out that's a big no-no.

Now I'm walking funny. Fantastic.

Lying down on my back with my legs straight is now uncomfortable. Maybe this is the fix. Just lie down with legs straight until it feels normal again. Maybe let my feet sink beyond the mattress.

I've been to a chiropractor twice since this began and it helped a bit. I do wonder if an osteopath would be more prudent. Someone on this forum said chiropractors made their back worse.

I'd appreciate any idea here.

My sitting posture's similar functionally, i raise my legs up on the chair with legs in

Your knees higher than your hips = hip flexors activating
Your feet closer to your thighs = hamstrings activating instead of quads

so chronically sitting like this = tight hip flexors & hamstrings


knee pain isnt 100% but when i started stretching my hamstrings it dropped a decent amount

- Can stretch your hip flexors by stepping one foot 2 foot lengths forward & bending that leg so knee is near toe. toes pointing forward both feet. then on the other side squeeze your glute / hip forward. should feel front of hip stretch. But with this have to watch out for pressure on the knee behind, maybe bringing lead foot closer can take some off and making sure weight is more on lead leg. idk never felt quite right to me & the ones on the floor felt dodgy so i just stretch hamstrings


- before you do this you might wanna confirm tight hamstrings with a test laying down, one leg flat keeping hips on the floor see what height you get. most people have them i think

Common hamstring stretch is bending and touching toes but can round the back & i think theres better ones
(i would personally focus on hamstrings for now idk for sure but probably out of balance with quads if youve confirmed theyre tight)
in this study hamstring stretching 30 seconds x5 a day, 5 days a week

top one works better than bottom (and i feel it better but i do it differently with less weight on the knee)

gave a 12 degree improvement in laying hamstring test, range 8 - 25 degree increase.
pretty good actually, can get 12 degrees + flexibility increase in 2 weeks

i do modified version of the first one a few times a day in between stuff:

instead of putting weight on the knee like that i start with both feet together, put one foot a foot length back behind the other but in alignment with them together, then put it 1 foot width further out,
then bend both knees slightly & keep them bent a bit,
bend over a little while keeping back straight,
put my weight on chair arm in front, then slowly bend lower more with straight back & pull my glute towards the ceiling until feel hamstrings pulling,
might take some adjustments to feel it right. e.g moving foot a little further to the side. or bending more, slightly rotating hips, or might have to rock everything back a bit so weight shifts more to heels, or slightly rotate lead foot out etc etc
& best to take it slow as dont want to tear something , slightly stretch feeling good pain bad

if you do it with the leg forward almost straight & a little further out it stretches the inside part. if you do it with the lead leg bent more it stretches the outside
if you have back problems probably best to just do pic #2 but i dont feel the stretch like that
& i kick my leg back a bit and hold to activate glutes between stuff too
strengthening/activating outer part of quads might come in handy

 

[worrywart]

It sounds like your quads got shortened.

Fixing Tight Quads from Sitting, Running or Biking​

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq8ZEPSExYM

Thanks, I'll look into it.

 

[worrywart]

My sitting posture's similar functionally, i raise my legs up on the chair with legs in

Your knees higher than your hips = hip flexors activating
Your feet closer to your thighs = hamstrings activating instead of quads

so chronically sitting like this = tight hip flexors & hamstrings


knee pain isnt 100% but when i started stretching my hamstrings it dropped a decent amount

- Can stretch your hip flexors by stepping one foot 2 foot lengths forward & bending that leg so knee is near toe. toes pointing forward both feet. then on the other side squeeze your glute / hip forward. should feel front of hip stretch. But with this have to watch out for pressure on the knee behind, maybe bringing lead foot closer can take some off and making sure weight is more on lead leg. idk never felt quite right to me & the ones on the floor felt dodgy so i just stretch hamstrings


- before you do this you might wanna confirm tight hamstrings with a test laying down, one leg flat keeping hips on the floor see what height you get. most people have them i think

Common hamstring stretch is bending and touching toes but can round the back & i think theres better ones
(i would personally focus on hamstrings for now idk for sure but probably out of balance with quads if youve confirmed theyre tight)
in this study hamstring stretching 30 seconds x5 a day, 5 days a week

top one works better than bottom (and i feel it better but i do it differently with less weight on the knee)
View attachment 55648
gave a 12 degree improvement in laying hamstring test, range 8 - 25 degree increase.
pretty good actually, can get 12 degrees + flexibility increase in 2 weeks
View attachment 55649

i do modified version of the first one a few times a day in between stuff:

instead of putting weight on the knee like that i start with both feet together, put one foot a foot length back behind the other but in alignment with them together, then put it 1 foot width further out,
then bend both knees slightly & keep them bent a bit,
bend over a little while keeping back straight,
put my weight on chair arm in front, then slowly bend lower more with straight back & pull my glute towards the ceiling until feel hamstrings pulling,
might take some adjustments to feel it right. e.g moving foot a little further to the side. or bending more, slightly rotating hips, or might have to rock everything back a bit so weight shifts more to heels, or slightly rotate lead foot out etc etc
& best to take it slow as dont want to tear something , slightly stretch feeling good pain bad

if you do it with the leg forward almost straight & a little further out it stretches the inside part. if you do it with the lead leg bent more it stretches the outside
if you have back problems probably best to just do pic #2 but i dont feel the stretch like that
& i kick my leg back a bit and hold to activate glutes between stuff too
strengthening/activating outer part of quads might come in handy

Oh man. that's a very generous reply. Thanks a lot man.