How your daily commute leads to chronic pain

We don’t feel your pain – but we understand it.

It’s boring. It’s repetitive. It’s mundane. And it’s painful. For too many New Jersey residents, the daily trek to and from work is taking a toll on the body. Our bodies are designed to move – not sit in traffic.

But we forge ahead, one day at a time, one bus ride at a time, one long drive at a time. One trip to the doctor’s office at a time.

The average New Jerseyian’s work commute is 32 minutes (four minutes longer than the average American’s) (NJSHAD / U.S. Census Bureau). Some venture close to an hour from Bergen County and Passaic County on trains, buses, and cars over the George Washington Bridge or through the Lincoln Tunnel into New York City.

Many of you rely on NJ Transit to get to and from work every day, in and out of Manhattan or between Northern New Jersey suburbs like Teaneck, Fort Lee, and Hackensack. Dr. Saurabh Dang treats many patients that participate in that long daily commute. A 35-minute train ride. A 27-minute bus ride. A 48-minute drive.

Over the years, Dr. Dang has seen and treated countless of the following conditions resulting from that pesky NJ Transit commute.

Why your NJ commute may be causing pain

Some of the reasons are obvious. When you’re on the road for close to an hour, that’s a long time sitting still. The vehicles aren’t designed for comfort or posture, and our bodies aren’t designed for these vehicles.

The seat

As much as we love our NJ Transit, its train and bus seating isn’t exactly ergonomically ideal. Inevitably, sitting in one of these seats, your posture will degrade and you’ll slip into an unnatural position.

What can happen?

Herniated discs and degenerative disc disease are often caused by prolonged sitting (especially slouched sitting) leading to sustained pressure on the discs. Those long stretches of sitting, especially on a hard surface and with uneven posture, contribute to sciatica, which manifests as burning, tingling, shooting pain, or numbness in the buttock and leg. The piriformis muscle also is shortened and tightened through inactivity.

What can I do?

The simple answer is… sit less! Offering up your seat to an elderly person or pregnant lady can be more than chivalrous – it can be beneficial to your health. Use the 20-minute rule: stand up and move around at least once every 20.

When you are sitting, you can sit better. Stop slouching and sliding down your seat. Instead, keep an upright spine that maintains your body’s natural lordotic curve with your knees bent at 90 degrees. If you require additional lumbar support, bring a small towel, roll it up, and place it behind the small of your back.

The vibration

What vibration? It’s one of the more underrated ways the commute can stress our bodies each and every day. Believe it or not, the small repetitive forces of your NJ Transit vehicles take a toll on your body over time. When you sit on a vibrating surface, your spine and pelvis absorb repeated tiny and often unpredictable impacts. The immediate effect is small, but it adds up over time.

What can happen?

Exposure to low-frequency whole-body vibration is linked to low back pain and accelerated disc degeneration, especially when experienced daily over long periods (Zhang & Guo, 2022). When combined with poor posture, spinal discomfort is likely not far behind.

What can I do?

Frankly, there isn’t much you can do here. The only way to avoid vibration exposure is to cut your time spent on the bus or train. Try walking a bit more on either end of the trip.

The phone

Yes, another way your phone is bad for you. All that texting and scrolling you do to pass the time on your NJ Transit commute? It has physical repercussions.

What can happen?

All that screen time does bad things to your neck. Cervical pain is a common result of the forward head posture, rounded shoulders, and upper back flexion we all assume as we stare into our phones for an entire commute (Hansraj, 2014).

What can I do?

Hold your phone at eye level to avoid unnecessary neck strain. Better yet, don’t look at your phone at all. Instead, listen to music or a podcast – something that doesn’t require staring at the screen. Or, and this is a wild idea, put the phone away completely and talk to someone nearby!

When to see a specialist

Chronic pain is not normal. You shouldn’t have to live with it and you shouldn’t have to bend your life around it. Rather than silently tolerating your pain for months or years, visit Dr. Dang to identify and treat your condition once and for all.

The good news? Most chronic pain can be treated without surgery. Dr. Dang and his team use advanced, minimally invasive treatment strategies based on a deep understanding of commute-related pain and backed by scientific evidence.