Barbara Bergin, MD
Barbara Bergin, MD, orthopedic surgeon, Texas Orthopedics, Sports & Rehabilitation Associates, Austin. DrBarbaraBergin.com
Ladies, the way you were taught to sit may be polite but could be contributing to a long list of orthopedic problems that cause hip and knee pain.
The solution: SLAM! It stands for “Sit Like a Man,” a phrase coined by Texas orthopedic surgeon Barbara Bergin, MD, who believes that the approach is key to treating—even better, preventing—painful conditions of the knees and hips that are particularly common in women, especially as they age.
What problems can sitting like a man help prevent? They include…
What’s wrong with sitting like a lady? It exacerbates a natural female anatomical tendency to rotate the femur (thighbone) inward, which pushes the knees inward. “When we sit ‘lady like,’ we further exaggerate that movement,” explains Dr. Bergin. Here’s how…
In treating her patients for these conditions, Dr. Bergin became frustrated because the known treatments didn’t always work. Standard options included certain strengthening and stretching exercises, cortisone treatments, anti-inflammatory medications, braces and other orthotic aids.
Herself included. “As I started aging, I got hip bursitis, and I started being mindful of my pain and realized that it had to do with the way I was sitting. It was worse when I was shoving my legs inward,” she says.
If you want to try it, the good news is that you don’t need to slouch like a teenage boy with your legs splayed out—aka manspreading—to get the benefits of SLAM. It’s a subtle change, although it may be easier to get in the habit when you’re wearing pants rather than a skirt or dress.
When sitting, let your knees drop slightly apart, with your knees at about the 11:00 and 1:00 positions. Your knees should align with your feet.
While Dr. Bergin’s approach hasn’t been proven scientifically, she has seen many of her female patients improve from simply sitting differently. “When I have patients start the SLAM program, they start to feel relief in their hips and their knees,” says Dr. Bergin. “Most are getting better.”
She typically combines the SLAM technique with other recommendations. For kneecap-tracking issues and knee pain, Dr. Bergin recommends also doing physical therapy and avoiding stairs, squats, deep-knee bends and lunges. For hip pain, she recommends physical therapy and avoiding activities that are painful, such as squatting, sleeping on the painful side, power walking and getting in and out of chairs quickly.
Her mission is to help women prevent these painful conditions—so they don’t have to see orthopedic experts like her. She understands that it’s not always possible to SLAM, but she encourages women to wear pants when they can and to take every opportunity, when seated, to sit like a man. She’d like moms to pass on the new approach to their daughters, too.
For more healthy ways to sit and stand, see Bottom Line’s “The Good Posture Guide.”