Mar 28, 2023 19:00:00

Experts explain what's wrong with sitting with your legs crossed

There should be a lot of people who just cross their legs when sitting in a chair. While you may find it uncomfortable to sit uncrossed, experts warn that sitting with your legs crossed can be detrimental to your health.

Why sitting with crossed legs could be bad for you

https://theconversation.com/why-sitting-with-crossed-legs-could-be-bad-for-you-201354

According to Adam Taylor, an anatomy professor at Lancaster University, sitting with your legs crossed can cause skeletal and vascular abnormalities.

Previous research has shown that sitting with your legs crossed reduces the activity of the external and internal oblique muscles , thus reducing muscle fatigue. However, tilting the pelvis puts a load on the bones and muscles, which can lead to poor posture and body pain. Also, crossing your legs puts pressure on the blood vessels in your lower extremities, increasing the risk of blood clots and increasing blood pressure.

According to Taylor, the longer and more often you sit with your legs crossed, the more likely you are to experience long-term changes in pelvic muscle length and bone placement. In addition, the position of the spine, shoulders, and head may be out of alignment due to the misalignment of the skeleton. Stretching one buttock muscle for too long can also weaken it.

Sitting with your legs crossed for long periods of time can make you more prone to deformities such as scoliosis, which is a side-to-side curvature of the spine, and can also cause greater trochanteric pain syndrome, which is pain in the hips and outside of the thighs. . Also, sitting with your legs crossed puts pressure on the peroneal nerve in your lower limbs, and there is a risk of injury. It is thought that there is a possibility that it may lead to the symptom of 'foot drop'.

Additionally, there is evidence that crossing your legs can affect sperm production. This is because the temperature of the testicles should be 2 to 6 degrees lower than the normal body temperature, but when sitting, the temperature of the testicles rises by 2 degrees, and when the legs are crossed, the temperature rises by 3.5 degrees. . Studies suggest that both sperm count and quality decrease when the temperature of the scrotum and testicles increases.

``If you can, avoid crossing your legs,'' says Taylor. With this in mind, it's important to avoid sitting in the same position for long periods of time and move regularly.'