Is Sitting With Legs Folded Under Bad For You? (Foot Tucked)
To fold your legs or not to fold them. That is the question. Comfort when sewing means a lot. For some people to sit comfortably means tucking their legs underneath them while sewing. Correct posture is important even in sewing
Is sitting with legs folded under bad for you? There is a reason why you shouldn’t sit with your legs folded with your foot tucked underneath you. When you take this position you can restrict your blood flow which in turn can cause some damage to your muscles. That damage is caused by a lack of oxygen.
To find out more about this interesting topic, just continue to read our article. It discusses this question while presenting you with lots of good information to help you sit and sew better.
Sitting on Your Feet 101
Is Sitting on Your Feet Bad for You?
There are lots of stories about sitting on your feet or crossing your legs are bad for you. Of course, different people will react in different ways, with some not getting any health issues while others may.
One of the big results that comes from sitting on your feet is that if you do not change positions for some time, your legs and feet may go numb. When that happens, you may not be able to walk again until your normal blood flow returns.
For others, they have experienced a dislocation in their hip bone. Not so much as being broken but having it change position to the point you may not walk normally until it is adjusted back to its original position.
The other issue that may arise is that your blood pressure may rise when sitting on your feet. This is the reason why nurses will have you sit with your legs uncrossed when they are about to take your blood pressure. The crossed legs may ruin the results and give you a higher reading than you should have.
Finally, there is the possibility that your foot may fall asleep and you need to get up in a hurry. When that happens, and it is rare, you could break your foot. Just keep in mind that what happens to other people may not happen to you and you should be fine even if you sit on your feet for long periods of time.
Sitting With Legs Folded Under (Leg Tucked Under)
There is a little risk when you sit with your legs crossed for some time. The first risk is minor and may only affect your posture. With the legs crossed underneath you, your pelvis bone could turn and tilt. This reaction could lead to bad posture.
But it is not the only thing it can lead to. One ailment that may come from sitting in this position for a long time is that you could cause your spine to come out of alignment resulting in some back pain.
If your muscles are already compensating for the bad posture, you may be in a little more trouble as you will endure more aches and pains. Let’s put this in perspective a little.
Short term sitting on your legs will not cause these issues. It is when you sit in that position for a very long time that these changes occur. So if you are only doing it for an hour a day then you should not worry that much. Although your blood pressure may still go up some.
There is also the myth that you may create varicose legs sitting on your legs. At the time of this writing, doctors are not sure what the source for varicose legs is. They can be created from pregnancy, being overweight, your age and your genetic make up.
Two of those supposed sources you can do nothing about and you shouldn’t worry about them. Fortunately, that isn't the end of this story. There is some good news. Doctors know that varicose veins are not caused by crossing your legs.
You can now correct your mother and grandmother if they say otherwise. Varicose veins come from problems with the veins themselves. This brings us to another piece of good news. Standing for long periods of time does not cause them either.
Knee Hurts When Sitting on Feet
This is a day for good news. You may feel your knee hurting when you sit with your legs crossed or while on your feet. Put your mind at ease because sitting in this position does not cause that pain.
Medical science is not always an exact science and it cannot always point to one single factor as the cause for knee pain when sitting. But it can help eliminate possible sources and this is one of those times.
Doctors are very sure that sitting on your feet is not the cause of your knee pain. Instead, there is a long list of sources that start with being overly active, overly overweight, you had a previous knee injury or your knee cap is out of alignment (which does happen when you sit in different positions).
Those are the simple possible sources. The more medical and serious sources include osteoarthritis, Osgood Schlatter’s disease, knee bursitis, and a Baker’s cyst. The last one is inflammation of the bursa behind the knee and the pain comes from having too much pressure put on it.
Knee bursitis is simply fluid on the knee which fills the space between the tendons and so. Finally, Schlatter’s disease affects the front of the knee and is usually found in males who have grown too fast too soon.
The final analysis is it is okay to sit on your feet as your knee pain is not coming from that position.
Sitting on Feet During Pregnancy
First off, experiencing a little pain when sitting on your feet or with your legs crossed while pregnant is not a reason to avoid getting pregnant. While your pregnancy will be a factor in your knee pain it is an indirect factor.
What will cause pain in your legs, knees pelvis and other lower limb regions will be the difference in your center of gravity as your pregnancy gets nearer its end. As your uterus gets bigger, it influences your center of gravity causing you to shift how you stand, walk, sit and so on.
Keep in mind that these change sin position will not hurt your baby or you. You need to be comfortable and since your body is changing your comfort zones are changing. That means that sitting on your legs won’t hurt your baby or you. It just might be a better comfort zone for you at this time.
But... and you knew it was coming, sitting on your legs may have some influence on your ankles swelling and contribute to an increase in your leg cramps. When you see these [physical conditions taking place, you should change your sitting position.
Sitting with both feet on the floor or placed on a stool would be best for you while you are pregnant.
How to Stop Sitting on My Feet
This may take a lot of work as one sewer snapped a tendon over her knee and was told by her doctor to stop sitting with her feet under her. Yet, she admits that despite what happened and in spite of what her doctor said, she still does it.
It will probably take a very hard decision on your part to break yourself of the habit of sitting on your feet. The position can be and is a very comfortable one to take. A little will power is part of the effort as it is easy to slip back into old habits.
One option is to borrow the sitting positions that are recommended when you are pregnant. Get a stool to rest your feet on or simply sit with both feet flat on the floor. Another suggestion may seem a little bit weird but you can get a rubber ball and place it between your knees.
Then all the time you are sitting, you can exercise by squeezing the ball with your knees. The key is not to drop the ball and you will if you change your sitting position. There is also the suggestion to get a timer and start to train yourself to uncross your legs and set your feet on the floor.
You do this by giving yourself a set amount of time, maybe 2 to 5 minutes, to sit with your legs underneath you. Then when the timer goes off, you change your position so that your feet are on your floor. Stay seated that way for as long as you can and then use the timer again.
There is another issue that should be discussed here. If you are short, for example under 5’ 4” tall, then your chairs, sofa, etc may not be low enough for you to comfortably place your feet on the floor.
When that is your situation, then you should find a shorter chair to sit in so y9our are comfortable sitting with your feet on the floor. One final solution deals with warmth. Women tend to get cold easier than men.
That is the reason they bring their feet up under them. The woman likes to stay warm and that position helps a lot. If you simply wear socks or slippers, your feet remain warmer and you won’t feel the need to put your feet up underneath you.
What About Sitting On Leg in Chair
This position is going to have the same results as already discussed above. According to the health experts, you are not going to cause a medical emergency if you sit in that position.
What will happen is that you may raise your blood pressure a bit, slow the blood flow down to your lower extremities and cause them to go to sleep and so on. If you are sewing for 6 to 8 hours a day then it would be a wise move to make to change your position often so you do not cause those minor ailments.
Oh, and if you cross your legs at your ankles when you sit, you do not run the risk of causing high blood pressure. That would be an alternative position to take if you are going to be at your sewing machine for some time.
What you need to remember is that the crossed leg, sitting on your feet positions are not the causes of many medical issues. It is okay to do that for a short period of time. What makes it a problem is if you sit that way for several hours at a time and do not move.
There Are Benefits to Sitting With Good Posture
It is possible you may not like sitting with good posture as that position gets uncomfortable after a while. But there are some benefits that come when you sit properly.
- 1. Researchers have found that you can increase your intelligence by sitting in the proper position. That is pretty good motivation to stop sitting on your feet.
- 2. Good posture protects your back. You do not misalign bones or joints which ending up in more harmful compensation movements. Your back remains pain-free and you feel a lot better.
- 3. It seems that good posture makes a positive contribution to your overall medical issues. It is supposed to help fight diabetes, heart disease and improve your lung function.
Some Final Words
You may not think about it too much but the way you sit can affect you in some way. Not like the old wives’ tales that are often erroneously repeated. But in helping you be healthier and feel better about yourself.
It is okay to sit with your feet underneath you or by crossing your legs. Those positions are not going to harm you medically or send you to the hospital any time soon.
Good posture will help keep you out of the hospital and let you sew for many more years to come.
