Ergonomic Desk Chairs

Archive for the ‘Ergonomic Desk Chairs’ Category

When planning for office seating, you would be well advised to factor in the important aspect of Workstation Ergonomics. This essentially entails the ergonomic office chair and workbenches which can not only greatly enhance working comfort but also productivity as research has proven time and again. The first step towards good workstation ergonomics is to ensure good sitting positions, without which the best office layout would not be conducive to your bottom line.

Ergonomic office chairs are made to alleviate backaches, tired necks and shoulders, headaches which are all symptoms of poor spine health. If you have noticed, you would realize that staff often take medical leave when they are incapacitated by bad headaches and backaches, and this could mean impacting negatively on your bottom line. While ergonomic office chairs can indeed help you and your staff with better overall spine health and reduce back ailments, they are not the miracle pill that is an immediate cure all. It does take time for physiological changes to take place.

Spending eight hours or more at the office in a sitting position can be toil on your back especially when there is lack of back support. Ergonomic office chairs are designed specifically to give added support to the hip, pelvis and lower back region. In addition, it helps to maintain proper alignment of your back and spine, thereby enhancing blood circulation, alertness and concentration.

To enhance your workstation ergonomics, whether at work or at home, you will need ergonomic office chairs with height adjustability for your seat, armrests as well as back rest. Most ergonomic office chairs should have a weight support of 275 pounds. Armrests should be attachable and removable based upon need. It is advisable to use executive ergonomic chairs which are either equipped with high back rest, or added head rest.

The best ergonomic chair need not be branded and expensive but functional with their basic features in place. If you buy ergonomic office chairs by bulk, your workstation ergonomics investment could be much less, in return for an enhanced bottom line.

If you have a job that is 90 percent desk bound, you will need good ergonomic desk chairs. Many people in the profession of draftsmen and architects are very particular about their sitting posture with the main reason being that the ergonomic drafting chair promotes good postural habits and spine health.

Ergonomic Drafting Chair - ChairWorks

The ergonomic drafting chair is one type of ergonomic chair specially designed to fit the needs of architects and draftsmen to help them work more efficiently. In fact, the original of the ergonomic chair dated back to the ergonomic drafting chair. Extensive research have been done to prove that ergonomics, sitting postures and the way drafters work at their desks are important correlated factors that cannot be ignored, especially when it comes to being desk bound and full concentration hovering over their work.

Apart from maintaining good spine health, the ergonomic drafting chair helps to reduce symptoms of backaches, tired neck and shoulders which could easily develop back pains and slipped discs if not managed over time.

It offers more physiological benefits than one can imagine. By alleviating the height of the seat, it provides prevents further spinal problems from developing, and being height adjustable means that it can fit the length of your legs, as the ergonomic drafting chair always comes with a foot ring for you to rest your legs.

They are usually designed with back rests which also offer a higher seat height and with proper back support, you are able to decrease the pressure exerted on the spine. With the appropriate lumbar support pillow attached with the chair, you are enhancing your spine health and more able to avoid back pains with a strong back and better circulation.

Ergonomic Drafting Chair - Office Star

There are a variety of materials used for the chair, from leather, cloth to mesh. Your choice of materials is important as you not only need a comfortable seat, you need to have sufficient support and quality that lasts over time.

Key factors to look out for before you purchase your ergonomic drafting chair are proper lower back support, with a seat of at least the standard 17 inch high and should have a seat tilt of about 5 degrees forward and back. You should choose a drafting chair with adjustable arm rests for better flexibility and mobility.

The cost of an ergonomic drafting chair starts at about 200 dollars with the best ergonomic chair costing about 400 hundred dollars. It is considerably affordable compared to its other counterparts. The popular and dependable brands are ChairWorks and Office Star.

Amongst the many ergonomic desk chairs that you might have chanced upon, I am sure that the ergonomic kneeling chair or what is known as the ergonomic knee chair is one of the most unique contraptions that catch your attention. There are countless benefits of ergonomically designed chairs which helps you keep the proper sitting position for good posture, thereby reducing the stress of pressure on your spine, especially when you have desk bound jobs that requires you to sit almost all 8 hours of your working time. They essentially give you comfort while you work and also help prevent injury at your workstations and is proven capable of maximizing productivity.

Ergonomic kneeling chairs are specially designed to enable you to sit upright with a slightly slanted forward position and with your knees slightly apart, your neck, shoulders and back automatically align in a straight line. This enables aches reduction from the neck to your legs, reducing muscle strain, and reducing the probability of lower back pains, promoting good spine health.

Despite what many marketers tout it to be the most suitable chair for extended period in a seated position, there are indeed cons to it, especially when you have already developed pre-existing ailments. The key points to note are as follow.

Firstly, those with weak joints, knees and leg problems for instance should not use the ergonomic kneeling chair as pre existing ailments will aggravate and inflame your joints and knees further from the pressure exerted when kneeling on extended period to time on the knee pad. Your “sitting” position also does not really allow much maneuver space since the spine is “lock” into position and if you have chosen a simple version of the ergonomic kneeling chair which does not come with back rest or arm rest, you need to exert your body to ensure that you balance well, not to mention you do not have the luxury of leaning back to rest your tired body. However, if you have the more advanced version of the knee chair with armrests and back rest you are able to do so. That said, leaning back on the knee chair would mean slanting your spine backwards and if done too often, could spell further spine trouble down the road.

Hence, it is important that you get a first hand opinion from your personal physician before you start investing on the ergonomic kneeling chair. But if you are healthy and free from lumbar related ailments, and would like to keep good spine health, the ergonomic kneeling chair is a good alternative. Find more information on the ergonomic kneeling chair here.

For those with pre existing back ailments, there are other ergonomic desk chairs such as the ergonomic computer chair, ergonomic mesh office chair with high back and headrest, the saddle stool or even the ergonomic ball chair which all less challenging to your spine yet comfortable. Check the out on this site for more information.

In part 2 of this series we discussed how to have good sitting posture in relation to workstation ergonomics. Today, in part 3, we will discuss tips on how to further improve your sitting position on ergonomic desk chairs to derive the optimum productivity, minimum physical discomfort and maximum spine health.

When at work, you need to adjust the height of your chair to your workstation, pushing it close to the work desk. It is preferable to have ergonomic desk chairs that come with armrests for resting them and relaxing tired muscles. A very common mistake that people make when moving in a swivel chair is that they tend to twist at the waist which could cause injury to it. Instead you should turn with your entire body.

In addition, when you need to stand up from a sitting position, shift your body to the front of portion of your seat before standing up. Use the armrest if necessary. When standing up, take note to straighten your legs and never lock your knees. Do not bend forward at your waist as this could cause undue pressure on the lower back portion of your spine. When standing, try to do some light stretching exercises which are beneficial to spine health.

Besides having the best ergonomic chair to help you with your sitting posture, you will also need to make certain minor sacrifices with regards to your sitting habits. For instance, when you experience lower back pain, often this is due to your lumbar region not being sufficiently supported, thereby exerting undue pressure upon the spinal discs. Apart from that, it is also possible that your dangling feet is not placed flat on the floor and your thigh muscles are pulling back at the spine. A few adjustments can be made to this situation.

Adjusting the height of the chair is the first change you can make. Getting ergonomic desk chairs with backrest helps to tilt the back slightly forward is another. Alternatively, you can purchase separately a lumbar support pillow to be placed at the lower back area of the chair, thereby ensuring that your spine curves in tandem with the shape of the support.

What actually causes tired neck, tensed shoulders and pain in the higher back is probably the fact that your head is overtly tilted forward or backwards, and also the arms are not supported. It is easy to remedy these situations. Get ergonomic desk chairs with adjustable headrests or high backrests, and don’t forget to get them with armrests too. And finally, if you feel pain in your buttocks, you have exerted too much pressure on it. You should sit deeper into the chair seat pan instead, or rather, simply stand up, stretch, take a break.

For more information to help you find the best ergonomic chair, check out this series of Ergonomic Desk Chairs Workstation Ergonomics for Spine Health.

In part 1 of this series we discussed that importance of the workstation ergonomics and the usefulness of ergonomic desk chairs in enhancing spine health. Today, we shall share what makes proper sitting posture.

Sitting is more harmful than standing up, especially over extended long hours over time, the reason being that unlike standing, the pressure is less evenly distributed across the body and is mainly concentrated along the spine, affecting smooth blood circulation. The main cause of the back pain experienced by desk bound workers are often due to the fact that pressure is concentrated at the lumbar region of the spine, or otherwise known as the lower back. When this happens, the blood flow which brings along with it important nutrients are blocked thereby causing the lumbar region to harden. That is what the lay person deems as having a stiff back. And this is exactly what ergonomic desks chairs aim to resolve.

Besides getting the best ergonomic chair to correct your sitting posture, you need to relearn how to sit upright correctly to reduce the compounded damage that has occurred to your spine.

Here is the correct sitting posture. You need to sit up with your back straight, pull your shoulders back with buttocks touching the back of your chair. Distribute your body weight evenly on both hips, keeping knees at 90 degree angles, and slightly higher than your hips. Here is where you might need a foot stool if necessary and keep your feet flat on the floor.

You can easily have good sitting position if you follow this method. Simply sit at the end of your chair and lean backwards. Then bring yourself up, hold for a few minutes and unlock the position at about 10 to 15 degrees.

It is important to note that regardless of whether you are using conventional or the best ergonomic chair, if you wish to have good spine health, never sit in the same position for more than thirty minutes as being in a fixated position for long periods tend to affect blood flow and circulation about your body. Get up and move around, and do some light stretching exercises whenever possible.

Stay tuned for part 3 of this Ergonomic Desk Chairs Workstation Ergonomics series.

Workstation ergonomics is the fusion of science and art in designing the job task, tools and equipment required as well as the favorable workplace environment to fit the worker. It is critical in preventing recurring strain injuries which if ignored, may cause physical disability over time. It is important for both human physical health and productivity. And often, this starts with examining the way you sit or effectively, your sitting posture and corrective measures are made subtly to by using ergonomic desk chairs.

Workstation ergonomics helps you to understand how a desk bound worker who spends at least 85,000 hours of her lifetime in a sitting position manages to prevent back pains and maintain spine health. Up until recently, not many people know that the sudden development of back pains and spine related ailments arise partly and simply from their prolonged incorrect sitting postures. Ergonomic desk chairs are designed to correct this.

To the company management, the key to recouping such investments come in the form of enhanced productivity and better bottom line. And many companies which embrace good workstation ergonomics have proven to achieve above 1000 percent in their 3 year ROI.

Not only have companies realized the importance of this, many homeowners, especially those who have set up home offices are beginning to convinced converts.

It is recognized that seated for long hours can be even more harmful your body than standing. The key reason is that unlike a standing pose, the sitting position puts much more uneven pressure onto the back and spine area, causing uneven blood flow.

Using ergonomic desk chairs subtly correct your sitting posture, without exerting undue pressure or major changes to the neck, back and spine. Some even come with lumber support pillow for added support to the lower back and they have proven to be effective especially for those who have bad back pains.

Stay tuned for the next part of this series on enhancing spine health with the right sitting posture using ergonomic desk chairs.

Up till now, there are still a lot of people who do not know what the ergonomics mean and what kind of benefits it brings to your spine health. In fact, it affects almost every aspect of your everyday life. At work and at the home, there are increasing awareness of the correlation of our physical functionality and output, or what is known as performance at the workplace. The term ergonomics is the concept of converting the conventional workstation for better physical spine health and productivity both at home and at work. Many offices have recognized the correlation between work performance and good ergonomics which starts with the right sitting positions and good posture. Hence, ergonomic desk chairs or more commonly known as the ergonomic computer chair, are often the first to be installed in their move towards an ergonomically designed work environment.

The ergonomic computer chair is designed to prep up your body in the right position by allowing for adjustable chair height, armrests, as well as backrest tilt functions. These are the basic criteria which allow you to fine tune your sitting position for a good posture. The more premium types would also provide added padding at the lower back area in the form of lumbar support pillow, as well as extended protection of the neck with the addition of a head rest.

There are a few varieties, some of which look more like strange contraptions, namely the ergonomic kneeling chair, the ergonomic ball chair, just to name a few. The former is designed for corrective spine treatment for those with little to no history of bad back pains but are showing symptoms in the form of tired necks and shoulders, backaches and headaches etc. The latter works along the concept of exercise balls, helping you build up a strong spine as well as great abdominal muscles. Using the ball chair would require much more balancing skills though.

Interesting as they look however, you may not wish to rush out right this moment and purchase one, not especially if you have already developed a bad back or slipped disc. It is advisable for you to consult your physician before making the investment. Pre existing conditions like back pains and carpal tunnel syndrome should never be trifled with and you should be very clear what types are suitable specifically based on your condition. That said, ergonomic desk chairs in the form of ergonomic computer chair is the safest bet for maintaining spine health especially for those with pre existing bad back ailments.

A nice looking dining chair or your old worn out conventional work chair are definitely not ergonomically designed to suit your comfort and needs. This is especially so when you are working at the office at least eight hours a day desk bound, hovering over your computer or endless paperwork, trying to meet deadlines. Or you might be a computer game junkie glued to your game every waking moment of your time. Whatever the reasons you spend endless time in a sitting position, you would require the best of spine care before lower back pains develop. This is the main purpose of ergonomic desk chairs, or what is commonly known as the ergonomic computer chair and you can easily find the best ergonomic chair that fits your needs if you simply look around hard enough.

Some conventional chairs may look and feel comfortable but after long periods of use, you start to feel fatigue, backaches and even headaches. The key reason is that they might be made for aesthetics for the eyes only and not so much for the body. Conversely ergonomic desk chairs are specifically designed to provide support in critical areas of the body, like the back, lower back, hands and even legs and calves. The basic differences of an ergonomic computer chair are the adjustability for height, from the seat, back to your armrests. Some even come with back tilts for the right sitting positions and the lumbar support pillow for better spine health.

You need to choose the right kind of ergonomic chairs matching your physical condition. Highly likely, you are not maintaining a good posture while seated at your work desk and you do have a wider variety of ergonomic desk chairs to choose from if you have yet to develop symptoms. To maintain balance while working, you might wish to choose the ergonomic ball chair which aims to help you with good body balance. It could mean some conscious work learning how to at the beginning but within a few hours, you would no longer feel the conscious need to balance your body as the activity becomes innate and subconscious.

The ergonomic kneeling chair could be another interesting alternative. It is by farthe most uncomfortable looking contraption one could ever imagine. And to think that you would be spending hours on end on the ergonomic kneeling chair could literally break your knees, no? No. In fact the name of the chair is rather misleading and it really does your knees more good than harm. You are essentially resting more of your body weight forward onto your calves and knees, lessening stress on your spine. The process helps to strengthen your lower back, calves and leg muscles as well as the knees. It helps to train your back into the right posture.

If you have already developed symptoms like backaches, tired necks and shoulders, headaches, and sore arm and leg muscles which are literally the sounding alarms that you need to start paying more attention to your sitting position, you need to choose your ergonomic desk chairs more carefully. More so too, if you have already been experiencing back and shoulder pains. You might wish to consult your physician before you make your purchase. For lower back pains, you might choose a sturdy one with lumbar support pillow for added padding and support. In fact, you might also wish to check out those with head rests as this would lessen the pain when you try to shift around the chair, more evenly distributing pressure throughout your body. If you type a lot and are suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, you should look into purchasing one with height adjustments on your armrests. But for better physical mobility, comfort as well as enhanced airflow, you may simply choose the common yet very popular ergonomic mesh office chair.

Ergonomic Desk chairs, regardless of which type, have their purpose and serve well in their functions to help you maintain great spine health.

Check out for more information on Ergonomic Desk Chairs here.

Ergonomic desk chairs come in various shapes and sizes. Their futuristic designs sometimes can be very creative and imaginative to say the least. Ergonomic saddle stools belong to the category of innovative design evolving from and emulating the horse saddle in horseback riding. It uses the back ergonomics of horseback riding which requires one to sit up straight and maintain an absolute perpendicular position of the back and the seat. Yet, ergonomic saddle stools are extremely comfortable, once you get used to it due to the high quality materials used for it. Most come in five star castor wheels for easy mobility.

Ergonomic saddle stools enable your legs can then widen to drop naturally, giving a healthy yet stable stance. For those of us who have had bad backs before, you would realize that this position is best for improved spine health. In the long run, this position also helps to reinforce back muscles. This unique design helps eliminate key problems of blood circulation and also corrects sitting position to prevent slouch. One key aspect of the ergonomic saddle stools is that it is height adjustable to cater to different types of users, eg adults and children.

The key benefits of the saddle stool abound, namely, alleviating your lower back pain, reducing tired shoulders, necks and headaches as well as preventing muscular tension fatigue, and finally resolving bad posture issues. It also reduces work related upper limb disorders such carpal tunnel syndrome and other musculoskeletal disorder.

From the perspective of enhancing well being, saddles stools also enables good arm-hand coordination, helps improve blood circulation and digestion, as well as strengthen muscle tone and abdominal muscles.

Saddle stools are most often used within a busy office environment which requires the user to multitask actively and physically. You might be required to use a few computers situated at different work desks, or do multiple tasks such as filing at one corner or the workstation and input filing data into a computer at the other corner of the work bench. The saddle stool is a handy chair in keeping up with the workflow yet at the same time, helping you to constantly maintain good posture.

They are ideal for dentists, surgeons, vets, hairdressers, therapists, technicians and clerical staff. Those made of higher stool height with adjustable foot rings are mostly made for standing height work, key users of whom are namely architects, draftspersons, laboratory technicians or even musicians and artists.

This category of ergonomic desk chairs do not come cheap but make for great spine health investment over the long run. The high end range of saddle stools is at about 1,100 dollars while on the other end of the spectrum costs about 200 dollars. Of course the materials used as well as the comfort level are key to the respective price points. Key brands are Bambach Saddle Seat and Humanscale. The former provides a model with backrest as well.

For more information, visit Ergonomic Desk Chairs for other types of ergonomically designed chairs for spine health.

This is Part 2 of the series of Ergonomic Desk Chairs Spine Health, and here, we shall address the issues of ergonomic support for the arms, elbows, hips and legs.

Obviously, arm support is important, as without it, you will feel strain primarily on your shoulders and neck, finally affecting the spine and lower back as well. In fact, chairs without armrests could cause carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition whereby a key nerve in the wrist is compressed leading to numbness and muscle weakness in the affected area. Hence, ergonomic desk chairs come with armrests and most of which are also adjustable to suit the height of the body and arms, thereby releasing the stress and strain to the neck and shoulders directly.

Elbow support and care is similarly important and the best initial position of your elbow should be 90 degree angle to your body as well as of the right and proportionate height. Again here, be careful of developing carpal tunnel syndrome if you maintain a particular posture over time without proper elbow support. The lesser problem of neck, shoulder and upper body pain cannot be ignored either.

Your hips must be snugly fitted onto the seat leaving at least one inch space all round. Thighs should be resting well on the seat, and for chairs with tilt which lets you slide slightly forward and backwards, ensure that you do not need to strain your lower body with the motions as they could cause slipped discs if you are not careful. This can be achieved as you adjust the height of the chair to either raise or lower to the correct height suitable for you. If your feet are still dangling uncomfortably, use the footrest which most ergonomic desk chairs come with.

Do you know the proper stance when seated on ergonomic desk chairs? The chair should be sufficiently deep to ensure that your calves can comfortably rest against the front of the chair. Otherwise, you will need a lumber support pillow to adjust the tilt of the back rest.

It is not easy to find the best ergonomic chair, and in addition to the key tips this series provides you, your personal and physical needs and comfort preferences should also be taken into account. You may even wish to consider customizing your ergonomic desk chairs for that perfect fit. After all, the cost of spine health is priceless, to say the least.

Check out Ergonomic Desk Chairs Spine Health Part 1 for more details on lumbar support pillow.