You spend a third of your day at work! For many, this is spent sat down in front of a computer on an office chair. For this reason I would recommended you spend valuable time researching and trying chairs.
So many people choose a chair because it looks nice; the colour fits the office etc. This often results in many hours sat fidgeting trying to get comfortable -at worst it can cause back, neck and many other discomforts such as Deep Vein Thrombosis.
Tips on choosing the correct chair:
The chair needs to fit you. This simply means the chair must support you where necessary.
Our recommendation is that the seat pan should support the whole of the femur. This is the distance from the back of the buttocks to just behind the back of the knee. It's recommended that you should be able to fit 2-3 fingers sideways between the seat & back of knee. A good chair will have a seat-slide to accommodate this!
The back should be relative to your needs and environment. For example if you have a lower back condition and work in an office, choose a chair back that fits comfortably and is easily adjustable to suit. If you work in a control room we would suggest you have a chair with a high back and often a neck rest.
We suggest having a chair with a rock facility. Having this ability to encourage dynamic movement improves circulation throughout the whole body having positive health effects - keeping muscles & ligaments active therefore reducing static loading.
Arms are a personal choice and can be dictated by the environment. Some workstations inhibit the use. At GetBack we will recommend arms where possible as they help considerably when getting in & out of the chair. There are some very adjustable arms available now so it's worth asking for information.
Most chairs today have a lumbar support mechanism, either a Lumbar Pump or Schukra dial. This can be used to acquire the correct Lordosis - or curve in the spine.
A tilt facility can be a big advantage too many back pain suffers. Think! Do you find yourself sitting on the very front edge of your chair or seat? This is very common in the workplace and we see not only healthy fit individuals but also back pain sufferers in this perched position - with NO back support. The reason we sit like this is to reverse the effects of a flat seat. When we sit on a flat seat pan the bony part in your bottom - sitting bones or ischial tuberosities rotate backwards (even more so in the case if you're female due to the nature of your pelvis for child birth). To counteract this many people perch. This brings you away from the back support and relies on your core stability (abdominal & dorsal muscle strength). Unless you're an athlete we defy anyone to maintain this posture.
Sooner or later you will tire and begin to slouch or stoop over compressing the intervertabral discs between your vertebrates. Each vertebra is stacked on top of the other and between each vertebra is a gel-like cushion called a disc (intervertebral disc). The discs help to absorb pressure, distribute stress, and keep the vertebrae from grinding against each other. If you spend too much time stressing the joints like this you could end up with Slipped Discs.
Slipped disc is the common name for the medical terms 'prolapsed' or 'herniated' disc. A slipped disc occurs if the outer part of your disc ruptures, allowing the gel inside to bulge and protrude outwards from in between your vertebrae. The damaged disc can put pressure on your whole spinal cord or on a single nerve fibre. A slipped disc can cause pain both in the area of the protruding disc and in any part of your body that is controlled by the nerve the disc is pressing on. A common cause of Sciatica.
Sciatica usually only affects one leg. The pain may be felt in the buttock, down the back of the leg, below the knee and in the foot. Such pain can be mild or severe; it may be persistent or come in spasms. Many GetBack clients have had relief from a tilt on the chair seat. A short term solution could be to try a Seat Wedge (See Back Support Section for more information).
Sitting down is uncomfortable?
If you've had a slip or fall and damaged your coccyx you may find many office chairs very uncomfortable. GetBack Supplies are able to adapt many seats to incorporate a coccyx cut-out; if necessary for extra comfort we may insert a layer of memory foam to further reduce the pressure. Please just ask any one of our advisors for information - better still call in to our Nottingham based Showroom where we have a very large selection of chairs to try!
Arthritic Hips, amputation or simply reduced mobility can make sitting very uncomfortable. GetBack are able to supply certain seats (Vela, Adapt) that can have a split-seat. This simple adaption allows you the user to flex each leg independently to optimise comfort.
In an ideal world we would always suggest having not only a very adjustable chair but also an electric Height Adjustable Desks to allow you to vary your position infinitely. In many Scandinavian countries this is a requirement!
