Which Ergonomic Office Chair Is Best For Back Pain?
Choosing the right ergonomic office chair isn’t easy. How do you decide?
For many people, sitting in an office chair stresses the lower back and neck and causes pain. Many ergonomic office chairs lack the postural design elements, which are necessary, to sit comfortably upright, without stressing your body. In fact some “ergonomic” chairs don’t get very much right.
When you sit in most ergonomic office chairs your hips will be below your knees or at best, level with your knees (your back and thighs at 90 degrees to each other). In this case, your hips are still not high enough. This sets up a backward movement in your lower back when you sit down, followed by a forward slump in your upper back and neck. Just sit in most any ergonomic office chair and take notice.
“Wow, you got it just right!”
The angle of your hips needs to be greater than 90 degrees. This angle is accomplished when your seat is set a little above your knees and the seat pan is tilted forward a bit. Your body pops up naturally and there is instantly less tension all up and down.
Also important in ergonomic office chair design are the shape of the seat pan and the density of the seat foam. These play a vital role in your comfort. It’s very nearly impossible to get your back and neck in a comfortable, upright position when the seat of your chair is sculpted where your thighs touch or scooped out in the middle. Similarly, if you sink into the foam because it’s too soft then your body can’t be balanced well.
For your safety you should use hard casters on carpeting and soft casters on hard floors. Your office chair should swivel and the chair height should put your elbows at a comfortable height for your keypad, with your shoulders relaxed.
We have designed an ergonomic chair, the Pure Posture Chair™, which combines the best of each of these features. I recently had the opportunity for the developer of a major chiropractic structural technique to sit on the Pure Posture Chair™. His face instantly lit up and his first comment was “Wow, you got it just right!”
The Pure Posture Chair™ promotes better whole body posture and back pain relief and can be used as an office chair, computer chair, or task chair.