A man's spine was twisted into a knot because he crossed his legs!

Expert of this article: Ao Rongguang, MD, associate chief physician of orthopedics department, Shanghai Pudong Hospital

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#Shanghai Metro reminds people to stop crossing their legs in carriages# became a hot search

Whether at work or in life

Many friends are accustomed to cross their legs

Read the following case

Netizens said:

Put it down quickly

32-year-old man crosses his legs

Causes spinal deformity

Doctor: It will seriously affect your appearance

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Netizens cross their legs and twist them into a knot

In addition, I believe many people have questions: Does crossing your legs really have anything to do with Erlang Shen? How harmful is it to cross your legs?

Today, let’s take a look at…

Crossed legs, does it really have something to do with Erlang Shen?

Putting one leg on top of the other leg while sitting upright is called crossing your legs.

Speaking of the origin of the name Erlang Legs, it is actually related to two famous figures in history, Dayu and Erlang Shen Yang Jian.

Dayu controlled the floods and stayed at home for ten years. He was very dedicated and hardworking. Unfortunately, he suffered from hemiplegia. One leg was paralyzed and he became a cripple. When he walked, Dayu would jump on one foot and lift the other foot, which was honored as the Yubu. It can be said that Dayu was the idol of the whole nation at that time.

The younger Erlang Shen, known as the God of Water, naturally worshipped his predecessor Dayu. He not only learned from Dayu in business, but also imitated Dayu in actions and behaviors. When Erlang Shen was sitting, he imitated Dayu by putting his injured leg on top. This is the origin of Erlang Shen's legs crossed.

How serious are the dangers of crossing your legs?

Crossing your legs for a long time may cause harm to your body. Although you cross one leg, it affects multiple parts of your body, causing many diseases and even affecting fertility.

Varicose veins in the lower legs

The leg on top will be squeezed at the back of the knee joint due to gravity. Maintaining this position for a long time (more than 15 minutes) will cause obstruction of venous return, which may cause bulging veins in the calf, or varicose veins, over time.

Common peroneal nerve injury

The common peroneal nerve is located on the outside of the proximal calf, superficially and easily compressed.

When you cross your legs for a long time, it is possible to compress the common peroneal nerve. In mild cases, you will experience numbness in the dorsum of the foot, and in severe cases, you will experience symptoms of serious nerve damage in the foot drop. If it is not discovered and treated in time, irreversible damage will occur, causing permanent harm.

Lower back pain, scoliosis

The normal spine has a good physiological curvature, and the surrounding muscles and ligaments are attached to the spine, each playing an important role. When crossing your legs, you usually bend your back, which will cause changes in the physiological curvature of the spine over time, and in severe cases, scoliosis will occur; the attached muscles and ligaments are also pulled and injured accordingly due to the change in the curvature of the spine, which can easily cause back pain and discomfort.

Gynecological diseases

Due to the close contact of the inner thighs, the local temperature rises, forming a moist and warm environment in the perineum, which is conducive to the growth of bacteria. This may lead to the reproduction of pathogenic bacteria and cause diseases such as vulvitis or vaginitis.

For those with a history of dysmenorrhea, crossing your legs for a long time may aggravate the dysmenorrhea.

Affects male reproductive health

Similar to the causes of gynecological diseases, when a man crosses his legs, the local temperature of the inner thighs and around the genitals rises. This high temperature environment is very lethal to sperm. If this continues for a long time, it may affect the activity of sperm and may affect fertility.

For those with prostatitis, crossing their legs will affect the local microcirculation of the prostate, causing poor excretion of the prostate gland ducts, which may aggravate chronic prostatitis.

Induce knee osteoarthritis

When elderly people cross their legs, it increases the pressure on the knee joints, causing nutritional disorders and increased wear of the knee cartilage. For elderly people who have already experienced knee degeneration, it increases the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis.

In addition, patients with certain chronic diseases are advised to cross their legs less.

For example, diabetic patients have poor blood circulation function. Crossing their legs for a long time will affect the blood circulation of the lower limbs and may even lead to diabetic foot, a serious complication of diabetes. Severe cases require amputation surgery.

Sitting with legs crossed can also lead to a decrease in lung capacity, which is not conducive to the recovery of the patient's respiratory function. Therefore, people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should avoid sitting with legs crossed for a long time in daily life to avoid aggravating lung function damage.

How to correct crossing your legs?

Those who usually have the habit of crossing their legs should try to correct this behavior slowly.

Pay attention to controlling the duration. Do not stay in the same posture for more than 15 minutes. It is recommended that you cross your legs and change positions, and stand up and move your whole body frequently.

In short, you should avoid crossing your legs. If you have this habit, correct it in time, maintain the correct posture, and don't cross your legs.

First of all, choose a chair of appropriate height according to your height and leg length. Avoid choosing a chair that is too low or too high.

If the chair is too low, when you sit down, you are in a squatting position, which puts great pressure on the pelvis and lumbar sacral area and can easily cause spinal strain.

The chair is too high. When you sit down, your legs are hanging in the air, and the bottom of your thighs are under pressure, which affects blood circulation.

After choosing a suitable chair, it is best to sit with your calves and thighs at a 90-degree angle and your legs in a relaxed state.

Don't cross your legs anymore!

Don't cross your legs anymore!

Don't cross your legs anymore!

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