# Is standing all day bad for your legs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-standing-all-day-bad-for-your-legs/103104>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 11, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-standing-all-day-bad-for-your-legs/103104 "2002-04-11T20:47:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-standing-all-day-bad-for-your-legs/103104/1 "2002-04-11T20:47:13Z")

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Where I work we do 12 hour shifts and basically we’re standing all the time except when we have breaks, eg, for lunch. The floor is concrete. Do you think this is bad for my joints?

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**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-standing-all-day-bad-for-your-legs/103104/2 "2002-04-11T20:53:00Z")

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Well, one thing this can do is increase the likelihood of varicose veins, which can be painful. IANAD, but I think that the best indicator of potential problems is whether you’re suffering pain—I know that I stopped waitressing because my knees couldn’t take it.

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**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-standing-all-day-bad-for-your-legs/103104/3 "2002-04-11T20:59:06Z")

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My knees do hurt sometimes, and my muscles ache.

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**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-standing-all-day-bad-for-your-legs/103104/4 "2002-04-11T23:09:49Z")

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Maybe what you could do is search on the web for a place that sells industrial mats designed for factory workers who stand in one place all day. They wouldn’t work for people who had to move around all day, though.

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-standing-all-day-bad-for-your-legs/103104/5 "2002-04-11T23:54:30Z")

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Shoes with good cushioning are available. Failing that, you can buy cushioned insoles. If you’re getting some pains, that speaks for itself. You need to do something to avoid the pain.

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**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-standing-all-day-bad-for-your-legs/103104/6 "2002-04-12T00:00:51Z")

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To prevent varicose veins, you might want to try support hose, which would also help your circulation (yes, even if you’re male). The mats also sound like a good idea.