Do Ergonomic Chairs Really Work?

cliffski wonders: "I've gone from a job as a commuting programmer working on his own code as a hobby, to a full time work-from-home one-man business. As I spend a good hour or two a day gaming as well as a full day's coding, I'm now sitting at the same desk for an awfully long time. Should I invest in one of those trendy ergonomic chairs that force you to sit with a straight back posture? Has anyone used one for a length of time, and does it really help prevent back pain? I've taken up archery, probably the best sport to encourage you to adopt good posture; are there any other tips Slashdot readers have for avoiding 'programmer slouch'?"

Comments

They put a lot of stress on your knees.

[Anonymous Coward]

I tried one a few years back when I was a ripe old 22. After an hour or so my knee joints started to ache. It may get better over time, but I won't use them.

Re:They put a lot of stress on your knees.

[greg1104]

Years of leg-heavy sports and weight lifting had made my knees very strong. So when I found myself having posture trouble when working on my computer too much, I switched to one of these kneeling chairs and never had any problems with knee pain.

That lasted about a year. The position you're put in with a kneeling chair shifts a lot of the weight your back would normally bear onto your hips. One day I found that my hips hurt when I walked; it was obviously getting much worse when I was kneeling in the chair so I stopped doing that. It was too late to reverse the damage by then. It's been 18 months since, and I still haven't completely recovered use of my hips.

If your posture is bad, and your back is bothering you, you can play with chairs all day; all you'll do is shift where you're putting the pressure at to some other part which will then buckle eventually. You need exercise that targets that specific weak area to correct this. Archery is better than nothing, I guess, but I wouldn't expect that just focusing on posture alone would give great results. You need to force your muscles to bear weight beyond their normal range to get them to grow, and my recollection of archery mechanics recalls it only really works the upper back muscles.

Since my case was bad by the time I had the resources to address it, the only thing I found that worked was combining ideas from my doctor, a physical therapist, and a personal trainer until I had a back workout routine that really made me feel where the back muscles that bear weight were at. Once you achive that, you can practice flexing them and train them properly to support more of your weight. I can now sit up perfectly straight just by tightening that part of my back and all sorts of problems have gone away. I find myself arching my back over the top of crappy chairs when I have to sit in them, not even using the back of the chair if it's not the right shape.

Check out the fun list of exercises at http://www.thetrainingstationinc.com/back-exercise s.html

It's the lower-back section that mirrors what I ended up doing. My doctor recommended against Hyper-Extensions as being too stressful, and my hip issues made Deadlifts difficult. The Lower Back Machine exercise has worked wonders for me (in my gym as the Icarian "Low Back Extension" machine), and I'm hoping to introduce the Good Morning exercise in the near future.

Also, both my doctor and therapist gave me a little green cartoon booklet of back exercises to do at home with ones own body weight; will reply to myself in this thread when I find it again with details.

Mod parent up!

[Spy der Mann]

Parent's right. These "ergonomic" chairs suck. It's much better to buy a standard office chair - the ones which can rotate and have small wheels at the bottom. I use one and I've had no problems with ergonomics. If I get bored, I can move the chair a little and/or adjust the height.

Steelcase Leap

[metamatic]

I have a Steelcase Leap. It's pretty much your classic office chair, except it has good lumbar support, and is designed to allow you to move around and adopt slightly different postures.

I found that with many ergonomic chairs, it didn't matter how perfect the back shape was--sitting in any kind of fixed position for long enough would give me back ache. With the Leap, the back is designed to flex.

A nice change, but not a full-time chair

[dubl-u]

I have one and use it some, but if I have to take one chair, it will be a regular one. If two, it would be the regular chair and a large exercise ball like this one. (Their sizing chart is for excersizing rather than sitting, so I recommend getting one size up if you'll use it as a chair.) The on-your-knees-slave chair is nice to have for variety's sake, though.

Short form: No.

[drinkypoo]

Long form: I've used about five or six different brands/models of that type of posture chair and ALL of them hurt my knees and shins and fuck up my back, although they seem to be good for my shoulders. I'm not willing to trade my knees, shins, and back for my shoulders, which are the only part of my body that hurts after sitting in normal chairs.

On a more personal, TMI-kind of note, I end up crushing the boys when trying to sit in them while wearing pants. Maybe my balls just hang low (swing to and fro, tie them in a knot etc) but I don't consider a chair that I can only sit in while pantsless to be very useful.

Not for me.

[Black Parrot]

I tried a kneeler, and found it hard on my knees and knee joints. Even tried it with a pillow on the lower part... Now it's a rolling junk holder.

Might work better for skinny people; I wouldn't know.

Maybe that's a *good* thing...

[Pink Tinkletini]

I still do horrible things like sit cross-legged in it, slouch, etc.

About ten years ago, my chiropractor mentioned that the best way to avoid RSI, back pain, and other workplace injuries in the cube is simply to make sure to change your position a lot. This is good news if you're naturally antsy, but apparently a lot of people just sit in the same position in front of their computers all day long, and that's what gets you in the end.

This is the theory behind those programs to remind you to take short breaks every hour. It's also a good excuse to ask your employer for a laptop computer so you can amble over to the couch, the coffeeshop, the park, or wherever you feel like working. Stay moving, stay alive.

It sounds plausible, and I've heard the same thing from at least two other chiropractors I've met. (I've never developed a cubicle injury, at least not yet--I was seeing a chiropractor for physical therapy, long story.)

Pilates

[crmartin]

Get some private Pilates lessons. (If you need to find an instructor, there are good resources at The Pilates Method Alliance.)

It helped my back pain when nothing else did, post a car accident.

Pilates Studios are also usually 10-1 female, and they're often young attractive dancer types, so it's fun for that reason as well.

Good posture is cheaper

[greatcelerystalk]

Developing good posture will alleviate your need for an ergonomic chair like this. In my experience, these chairs tend to be uncomfortable after an hour or two. Take frequent breaks and exercise, in addition to developing good posture, and you'll not find yourself quite so uncomfortable.

That said, zafu and zabuton (cushions traditionally used in meditation and for sitting in general) are very good for helping to develop good posture; the loft and angle of the cushions forces the spine into alignment, which relieves pressure. There's nothing to support your back for you, so you'll eventually be able to sit with better posture without relying on the back of a chair to do it for you.

aeron and a ball.

[nblender]

I've sat on an Aeron for about 5 years all day. Do I think it cures cancer? No. It's a good quality, solid, comfortable chair. You never stick to the chair, and it's adjustable in all kinds of ways. I'm also prone to not exercising enough and lifting heavy things poorly. So occasionally, my back hurts. I also have one of those exercise balls http://www.fitter1.com/classic-ball.html. Whenever my back gets a little 'weak', I sit on my ball for a week. The first day on the ball after a long time, I go home that night and my back is tired, but not sore. The next day it's better. After a few days, I'm back to my regular self. The ball is cheap, forces good posture, and is convenient. But you can't lean back and put your feet on your desk to have a good 'think'. The other thing that I think is important about chairs is that the back tilts at a greater rate than the seat, as opposed to a seat that doesn't tilt at all (slide off the bottom) or a seat that tilts with the back (pinch the bottom of your thighs). That's why I like the Aeron.

I promise you this. You can't go to a chair store and try each one out. You don't know if you like a chair until you've spent a week sitting on it all day long.

Get specialist help

[Anonymous Coward]

To answer the question: "Do Ergonomic Chairs Really Work?" - hmmmm, yes, but only as one component of a broader approach to your ergonomic situation. They are not a fix-all.

I have recently become more aware of 'gradual onset' RSI in my right forearm, regardless of the fact that I've been using ergonomic keyboards for over a decade (which of course points to a bad mouse - 5 mins of normal mousing = sharp pains, 3m ergonomic mouse = 8 hours straight no problems.) Now that I am taking regular breaks, getting away from my workstation and stretching regularly, my RSI is under control and only peaks when I ignore my RSI software to do silly things like write long winded diatribes on /.

But I digress, this isnt about my RSI, it's about you. But first back to me. As part of abiding by legislation and contractural politics here in NZ, I obeyed by the demands of a health and safety wench who submitted me to a battery of observations and tests, which included a visit from an occupational health and safety nurse, who apart from being attractive and friendly, was intelligent and informative. Curse the linux in my veins I wasnt able to snare her :(

Anyway, she ignored my "Got Root?" t-shirt and taught me how to get the most out of the gear you've got, and you'd be surprised what some simple adjustments can do to make the mundane office chair into something much better ergonomically.

For the record - at work we have standard Damba office chairs, not cheap but not expensive, and my personal adjustments were to adjust the back as forward as comfortably possible - forcing me to sit in a supported upright position, which nulls the urge to slouch - and because our desks are set too high, I have the chair set as high as possible and complimented with a foot stool. You're aiming for right angles at the knees and elbows with "floating wrists"

Though because everyone's made differently by their deity of choice, you cannot do well with advice that is given on /. or in any written form. The best way is to be shown, so get a specialist to visit you - it's worth the money, and even better if your employer pays for it! (why? It's knowledge you keep, provided you pay attention and ask the right questions)

Again for the record, my chair at home - I havent tried an Aeron, though I really want to, but I have tried these:
http://www.formway.co.nz/life/life.html (warning - Flash!)
http://buro.co.nz/wa.asp?idWebPage=4361&idDetails= 163

The Formway Life is an ergonomicists orgy piece. Myself and some colleagues visited a client site and they were fortunate enough to be kitted out with these and custom made Formway electro-mechanically adjustable desks. I sat in one of these and immediately demanded to my colleagues to leave, sending only money and food. These are highly customisable, but at NZD$800 up to NZD$1700 depending on how you configure it, it's a little out of my price bracket.

The Buro generally retails for NZD$500, and while not as comfortable as the Life, it is still highly adjustable and extremely comfortable while still having excellent ergonomical support. Fortunately, a bulk warehouse stationary chain, named Warehouse Stationary, relabels Buro gear as Avant and sells them cheaper.

Kinda like Lexus/Toyota (flawed analogy, I know.) Warehouse Stationary sells my particular model normally for NZD$350, and I got mine on sale for NZD$250. In NZ, that's still a lot for a chair - but hey, half price and is it worth it? My personal health says yes.

And on that note, my final piece of advice. If you're sitting in chairs that long, you might want to consider one of these additions ;)

Sit-ups or crunches

[Futurepower(R)]

True: "Exercise will make your back pain go away."

Specifically, strengthening your stomach muscles by doing sit-ups or crunches helps your back muscles relax. Often where you feel the pain is not the position of the actual problem.

Re:Try what I did...

[Vo0k]

I used two thick blocks of woods, about 15x15cm, one for each rail, not too pretty but very strong and quite cheap (plus that's what I had available when my old chair finally died and I needed a replacement urgently). Good screws for attaching the rails, the blocks reaching a bit behind the chair to allow for safe leaning far back. Later needed to add a bar between them, because one rail would bend if I sit too heavily sideways. I guess once I move my ass to paint them black they will look quite okay.