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

Kneeling chairs work

[Merlynnus]

I've been using a kneeling chair since 2001. What forced me to switch over was a slipped disk that became sciatica -- basically a pinched nerve that incapacitated me for 6 weeks. At any rate, after I recovered enough to go back to the office, I got kneeling chairs for the office and for my computer desk at home. Right now, I'm writing this while sitting in a kneeling chair. Some observations:

1. They do work. My posture is much better. I had a relapse a year later, but since then, it's been smooth sailing.
2. They take some getting used to. I have reasonably "bad" knees, but the kneeling chair doesn't really put pressure on your knees if it's adjusted properly. The pressure is on your shins instead. However, it's likely that for the first few days or weeks, you'll find your legs cramping up a bit. The key is to stick to it and get your muscles to learn to like the new position.
3. There is significant difference between chairs. My first chair was this one: http://www.chairlines.com/qs/product/-1/2115/11654 6/0/0. It was good, but eventually the seat broke off ... all the small movements while sitting caused a fatigue fracture where the seat was supported. Now, I'm using this one: http://www.chairlines.com/qs/product/-1/2115/11654 5/0/0 and it's much better ... more comfortable, and sturdier, I think.
4. They're not for everyone.
5. Make sure it is adjustable. At least in height, but ideally in the angle that your legs form. One size does not fit all. Try it out at the store first, but ideally at your desk so that you can see if everything fits ... or not.
6. They make excellent conversation starters.
7. They're less hippy than those yoga balls.

A>

Re:Kneeling chairs work

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree, they work very well. In fact, the first 2 weeks I used mine my back muscles hurt like crazy because they were not used to supporting my body straight up for long periods. Once I got past that stage, my lower back problems disappeared completely. I work out regularly and tried everything to get rid of the tightness in my lower back. The balans chair fixed it. The chair I recommend is by Hag, the inventor of the kneeling chair. It's expensive, but built like a rock and fully adjustable: http://www.bluehen.com/hag-balans-kneeling-chair-p -354.html

Re:Exercise helps a lot, too.

[alshithead]

Exercise to strengthen back and ab muscles is probably the best bet but my wife likes her ergonomic chair and swears it helps her back issues. I use it occasionally when I sit at her PC at home but I don't see much difference between that and the 50 year old, wood desk chair I use.

Try an inflatable fitness ball as a chair

[Optic7]

I read this tip somewhere on the net and tried it out. I liked it, but do yourself a favor and get an anti-burst model as it's just a few bucks more than a burstable model. I had the latter type and when my cat decided to jump up on my lap I ended up flat on my ass with a twisted knee. Another thing about it is that if anyone else would be using it, the ball would have to be the proper size for them too (they come in about three sizes, according to your height).

I did a quick search on the net for info to point you to, but I ended up finding an article recommending against it. I would still try it to see what you think, because I think the article is exaggerating the whole "instability" angle. They also have ads for what look like super expensive ergonomic chairs, so I wonder if there's any connection there. Anyway, it appears that that website also has an ergonomics forum, so you may want to ask the same question there.

Re:Try an inflatable fitness ball as a chair

[Anonymous Coward]

I read the same suggestion on Slashdot a year or so ago -- On an "Ask Slashdot" thread about chairs ...

I went out and ordered a FitBall from Amazon. (Great quality. Get the 65cm size. I ordered it from some sort of medical supply company that sold product on Amazon and it was cheap.)

JUST as the original slashdot post predicted (sorry, no link) at first I could only sit in it for an hour or so a day before _something_ started to hurt. But over a few weeks I got to the point I could sit on it all day without every being aware of a single complaint from my body.

I could speculate on the why's and the how's. The original Slashdot post said it forced you to sit in a healthy position so you don't fall off but you don't have to think about it. I doubt that. The other idea in that post was that you have to continuously contract different muscle groups as you shift your weight and position on the ball and gradually you strengthen your "core" so you don't have any pain. That also explains why it takes some getting used to.

Based on my experience, I'd recommend spending $20-$25 bucks on a 65cm Fitball before you commit to paying $800 or more for an Aeron chair. YMMV but it's a cheap investment and if it doesn't work out you can always use the Fitball to stretch. Lying on it front-side up feels SO GOOD. Not as good as sex, but if you're a geek it's probably a decent approximation ;-)

Try what I did...

[Vo0k]

Ultra-comfortable, ultra-ergonomic, designed for sitting in one position for many hours, extremely durable, high quality and... ultra-cheap!

Visit a car scrapyard and buy the best car seat you can find. Right now typing this from a luxury model BMW driver's seat. Cost: $17. If this one dies (not likely!), I'm gonna get another. Never more overpaying for computer desk chairs in furniture shops!

Minus: Not rotating. Plus/minus - heavy, not really movable (but can be easily adjusted forward/back, sliding on rails). And requires some (little) work to make a good basis/attachment.

Data Point

[bunions]

I worked in an Aeron chair 8-10 hours a day for 8 years. No back pain. I changed jobs and now have a generic office chair. Back pain. Draw your own conclusions.

Those chairs rock

[austad]

Those chairs are great. I sat in a Herman Miller Aeron for about 3 years, and it really kept me from hurting compared to the older chairs I sat in. I picked up an old (1975) Herman Miller Ergon for home, and it's nearly as comfortable. The cool thing about the HM stuff, is there is a lifetime warranty on it. I had a wheel stop working, and then sent out a truck and fixed it for free, and that chair is 30 years old.

But, do you know your back pain is coming from your chair? It certainly might have something to do with it, however, I read an article that said 60% of americans are chronically dehydrated and that can cause back pain. I thought about it, and I really didn't drink that much water. I started carrying a water bottle with me everywhere, and my back rarely hurts anymore.

Try for an extended period

[Doctor Memory]

When I first started working from home, I had a generic office chair. After a couple of weeks, I couldn't stand to stay in it for more than a half-hour or so. So I went to the local "ergonomic chair" dealer and got their top-of-the-line chair for waaaay much money. Took it back within a week, because it kind of locked me in one position and wouldn't let me shift around much. Then I got an Aeron chair (cheap at the height of the dot-bomb meltdown), and it's been great. I'd get another if anything happened to mine, and they're not terribly expensive anymore (I think they were >$1000 around 2000, they're like $600 now).

I picked up a Herman Miller Aeron...

[Fallen Kell]

I bought it about 1 1/2 years ago now. Personally it is the best computer/desk chair I have ever had. It is extremely comfortable and the use of the fabric stuff makes it breath very well. Depending on which model you get you can have different types of back/lumbar support. I picked up a fully adjustable model with lumbar support, a leather arms (I didn't pay for the crome model though, look great but was not worth it since it was in my upstairs bedroom). You still need to set it up properly for good back/ergonomic support and use it that way. But I really just set it up for comfort :)

Mesh gravity chairs are comfy

[timothy]

The chair I've lusted for over the past decade-plus is one like the Relax-the-Back "Perfect Chair" (http://www.livingincomfort.com/ec11130.html for instance), but they start at over $1000 dollars. Cheap compared to doctor bills, I guess, but $1000 for a chair is unlikely for my near-future budget :)

However, a few days ago I picked up from the local Dick's Sporting Goods a similarly reclining chair (mesh, not leather) which folds, weighs probably about 15 pounds, and only cost $60. Since I've had it only a few days, I can't make long-term evaluations yet, but it's comfortable for laptop-typing, and sure beats my usual awful posture in an office chair. For instance, I'm sitting at the moment in a fairly comfy chair from Office Depot (one of the leather "manager's chairs" they have on recurring sales for 80 or 100 bucks), but frankly it's only fairly comfy in comparison to most other chairs I've tried. Aerons are nice, but not all they're cracked up to be. Some Aeron competitors stop at looking vaguely similar (and aren't comfortable), and I suspect some surpass the real Aeron in comfort, but I haven't hit any yet. My position is like this:

- left leg, extended forward onto a metal shelf (resting on a jerry-rigged shelf-pad made of a folded grey fleece sleeping bag)

- right leg folded and tucked under the left one

- back in only moderate agony

I'm not on the newer reclining one only because I'm lazy and in the room where it is not.

I've tried the kneeling chairs, and didn't much like them; the forward creep (and the battle with pants slippage!) made the novelty wear off; they're strictly OK rather than awesome. What I really want is a space couch from the shuttle, and LCD on the ceiling, and a working, intuitive voice-recognition system that's available as a deb and under an OSI-approved license :) As Bill Shatner might once have said, in a strained and melodramatic voice, "Must! ... have! ... a! ... dream!"

timothy

Aeron = 14 hour workdays

[toybuilder]

I worked at an Internet startup that spent almost zero on office furniture. Our desks were doors mounted on top of filing cabinets. But everyone got Aeron chairs -- and they had a selection of chair sizes to suit everyone.

I have to say that the Aeron made it possible to work long hours -- even with 14 hour days, I felt fine. That wasn't the case with other office chairs, before or since. While it was popular to scoff at the Aeron chairs during the dot-com-crash days, I actually think those chairs were actually sensible spending by the companies.

Cheap sub-$100 chairs are crap. If you're going to buy ONE chair for yourself, you're better off going to a good retail dealer and have them educate you on the product, and choose/adjust the seat that fit you. And, if they're a true high-quality retailer, they should be willing to take the seat back even after you've taken it home for a couple weeks. If you're going to spend money on making yourself productive, be generous to yourself.

I can sit in an Aeron when my back hurts

[robatwork]

I occasionally have back problems. Sitting in my $129 generic office chair from Office Depot I couldn't sit for more than 10 minutes without having to get up (painfully), take a break and lie down. Go to work and sit in my $600 Aeron and I can go a full day (with intermittent walking breaks) without significant discomfort. AERON ROCKS! I had a kneeling chair when I was 18, it worked fine, never had any complaints.

An Aeron Tale: It's worthwhile.

[daviddennis]

A few years ago I worked for a company that had to watch every penny. So of course they didn't want to buy me any kind of fancy chair. In fact, despite paying me big bucks, they gave me a chair that even the telemarketing staff had rejected. The back cushion was detached from its cardboard backing and flopped all over the place.

Well, after a year or so of that, I got severe pain in my hands from the poor typing position that ensued from such a crummy chair. I went to a doctor and he prescribed a truly bizarre wrist splint and an ergonomic chair.

My panicked boss, fearing potential lawsuits in the air, bought me an Aeron and a wrist rest for my keyboard. I tried the wrist splint but it was so weird feeling to use that I didn't use it more than a day or so.

Haven't had any wrist problems since, so having an Aeron or a similarly adjustable chair definitely helps a lot. I had bought an Aeron for home use before getting the one at my work. I now work at home so I'm either using the Aeron or relaxing outdoors with lawn chairs. For some reason relaxing outdoors, even with non-optimal chairs, seems to work wonders for my attitude. Curious but true.

I don't know about the kneeling chair. I tried one once but found it so uncomfortable and strange it wasn't of interest.

Hope that helps.

D