How to choose the best ergonomic chair for your back, your arms and your legs . . . and why it is important.
How to choose the best ergonomic chair for your back, your arms and your legs . . . and why it is important.
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Ideal
Arm rests that adjust both up/down and inward/outward
are key. |
Ideal
A chair back that provides a lockable upright position is essential. |
Good
An armless chair can be adequate as long as the chair height and back and seat supports are adjustable and fit the person. |
What makes a good chair, anatomically speaking?
MOD Solution® Founder Cathleen Amwake, OTR/L, advises “In my experience, the Improv HE chair from Haworth fits 98% of the population and is a reliable choice of chair for computer stations, or the kind of activity required in sitting at desks. The seat pan and the overall structure of this chair offer high quality, individual comfort, and durability.”
 Support the back, the arms, the legs: An ideal chair will offer the following features—
- Ability to adjust up and down to accommodate the length of your leg bone from the knee down.
- A chair pan (seat) that can be adjusted horizontally to support the length of your upper leg bone.
- Back support that can be adjusted upward and downward to support your lumbar spine in increments (even slight changes do affect your back).
- Arm rests that can be adjusted up and down to support the length of your upper arm and take the tension off the muscle at the top of your shoulder.
- Arm rests that can be adjusted inward and outward to adjust to the width of your body as it is desirable for elbows to be by your sides.
- A chair back that can be locked into an upright position for keyboard and mouse work.
Support the joints of the back: The vertebra of your low back are supported by the correct length of the seat pan (portion that you sit on) and the physical shape of the chair back. It is important that you can identify the lumbar spine and have a chair that will adjust to support your back. Finding and supporting the lumbar spine in extension will allow the remaining back vertebra to support your upper back. The goal is to have your head positioned over—or in alignment with—the trunk. A forward-jutting head generally makes it difficult for you to sit back in your chair. And without good back support, you will not naturally sit or stay properly positioned in the chair.
Back pain is commonly reported by workers who work in office jobs where they are confined to a chair for most of the day. Understanding the root cause of back pain can be empowering for such a worker. How prevalent back pain is among the national population is reported by the Arthritis Foundation, outlined below.
Facts about Back Pain
Source: The Arthritis Foundation
Back pain is one of the most common health problems in the United States, occurring in both men and women at any age.
- Back pain affects 50 to 80 percent of people in the U.S. at some point in their lives.
- In any given year, 10 percent of adults experience back pain, or other symptoms such as limited mobility or stiffness.
- Each year, Americans spend an estimated $24 billion on treatments for back pain—not including missed time from work or the emotional costs of enduring pain and not being able to participate in normal daily activities.
- Back pain can be mildly uncomfortable, excruciating, or anywhere in between. It can start slowly, sometimes as a result of poor posture, or come on suddenly because of injury.
- Back pain can last for a few short days or can linger for weeks, months and even years.
- Arthritis is a common form of back pain. The earlier arthritis is diagnosed, the sooner steps can be taken to reduce disability in the future.
- Other factors that aggravate back pain include stress, not enough sleep, being overweight, and having poor posture or not being physically fit.
- Back pain should not be considered a normal part of aging; it is a chronic condition that calls for similar lifestyle changes as do diseases like arthritis and diabetes.
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Back to back: Today’s office activity can stress the back if the chair does not fit the person
By reinforcing proper posture and physical fitness, ergonomic equipment is intended to support joints and muscles in order to decrease those physical stresses that often create discomfort.
If you frequently find yourself seeking professional health care for treatment of back pain, neck pain—and if you sit the majority of the day—you may be overlooking your work station set up, and your chair, as the sources of your problems.
The chair is a key factor in your work station environment as it supplies the foundation for your body’s support. To decrease stress to your back joints, the back of your chair has to provide two things:
- Support to the hips/leg bone.
- Support to the back, especially the lumbar spine.
When seated in your work station chair, do you find yourself:
1. Leaning forward and resting your arms on the desk?
2. Slouching down in the seat or constantly moving around in the chair?
3. Sitting with your feet resting on the chair legs or using pillows to support your back?
If you can say “yes’” to these questions, you may be a candidate for a work site evaluation by a trained professional.
If you are going shopping for an ergonomic chair, click here for MOD Solution®’s convenient Ergonomic Chair Shopping Tip sheet. |
