unable to sit

[alinguyen]

hi,
how are her biomechanics during sitting/standing? observe whether she has abdominal muscle/quads, hamstrings/gluts/erector spinae etc muscle imbalance (yanda). also observe relative strength of the muscles which help maintain posture does she lumbar flex or extend during sitting, does lumbar support or lack of lumbar support help? does changing the tilt of her pelvis assist with sitting? is she rotated during sitting?

the idea is that if she's getting claudication during sitting, find out whether it's due to the position/ relative flex/ext of the spine that is causing the claudication and whether you can perform exercises to help strengthen the relative weaknesses to allow her to maintain a good lumbar position that she can feel comfortable with.

[neurospast]

Lumbar canal stenosis .....I'm not nitpicking but...
You question is if you could prolonge the sitting time. Why can't she sit longer than 10 minutes? Does she sit/stand in a certain position/posture? How about her pelvis levelled? What about a more resent MRI?
I assume because of pain/discomfort. In that case you should palpate the gluteal area and lower back for Triggerpoints in this; All gluts (if they have active triggerpoints sitting & lying on the back may provoke pain), paravertebral high tension of muscles could irritate the nervous system. Quadratus lumborum & Latisimus Dorsi. Irritation of the nervous system could result in irritation of other organs like muscles whci then could effect movement patterns.
An active point you will find without problems follow the charts and ask about referred pain (but don't get fooled if it doesn't correspond with the books) The pain on touch should be extremely sharp, not dull (otherwise you might irritate more organs e.g. muscles) and should start to ease within 10-20 seconds. Do not continue if they don't you might be just aside of 1. Palpate again if necessary. Don.t push to hard, unnecessary to do so. Gentle does the trick.
Best of luck & your friend as well.