Reading, Watching TV, and Rest Positions That Don't Hurt

People with back pain often find that the activities they look forward to most — reading on the couch, watching a film in bed, sitting in a recliner — reliably produce or worsen pain. This can feel unfair and confusing: surely resting should help. The problem is that "rest" does not mean spinal unloading. Most leisure positions are poor positions for the spine. They were designed for comfort in the short term and convenience, not for biomechanics, and when sustained for an hour or two, they accumulate the same load as any other sustained poor posture.