Telework and back pain are two terms that, unfortunately, often go hand in hand. Having back pain is something that affects more than 80% of the population. And, if left untreated, it can become chronic. That is why it is essential to have an ergonomic chair that adapts to our body. Although that alone will not be enough, it is also essential to have a good postural hygiene and configure the chair properly according to your needs and anatomical build. In this post we will show you what you should know before choosing an office chair for back pain.
In today's post we will talk about the factors to consider when choosing the best chair for back pain and how you should use it to avoid further ailments.
We anticipate that there is no chair for back pain that will relieve or eliminate the pain, it is a combination of several things that we explain below.
> Best office chair for back pain
> Best ergonomic chairs according to type of back pain
> What is the correct posture for the back when sitting?
> How do I set up my ergonomic office chair to avoid back pain?
The best desk or office chair to take care of your back health is an ergonomic chair. Why? An ergonomic chair is a type of chair designed to keep your spine, as well as the rest of your body, in the correct position.
Ergonomic chairs, among many other benefits, facilitate the constant change of posture, maintaining comfort, which is key to avoid musculoskeletal stress and, consequently, back pain.
Prolonged maintenance of the quadruped sitting position - or passive sitting (see image) - is the main risk factor for back pain. This is due to the combined effect of immobility and bad position of the lumbar spine (we tend to curve it in the opposite way to the natural position of our body).
That is to say, not changing position causes us to subject muscles and joints to high stress and a continuous overload that turns into an annoying back pain that can be chronic if no action is taken.
So, if you are wondering which chair is best for your back, the first step if you want to forget about back pain is to make sure you have an ergonomic chair. The next step is to take into account the degree of pain you suffer. Depending on whether the pain is mild or severe, one chair or another will be more suitable. We explain this in the following section.
Let us clarify that, when we talk about back pain, we are talking about the entire spine, therefore, we also include cervical and lumbar pain.
But in reality, the type of ergonomic chair we choose does not exactly determine the ailment it will solve; there are no specific chairs for lumbar pain and others for ischial pain. What must be taken into account is the degree of pain (in this case of the back) in order to choose a more or less corrective chair.
The comfort and the degree of correction of a chair have an inversely proportional relationship; the stricter or more corrective the chair, the less comfortable it will be according to the standard concept of passive comfort and the more suitable it will be for a more extreme ailment. However, there are comfortable and corrective chairs. All ergonomic chairs are corrective, but to a greater or lesser degree.
This desk chair is a model of chair that is corrective, but that provides comfort is the CAPISCO series, based on the "saddle chair" position. It helps you to be able to change position constantly, without having musculoskeletal loads and, at the same time, it provides comfort sequences. Why sequences and not constant comfort? Because if it were constant, it would not force us to change position and that is when muscular pains arise.
The Capisco adapts to many human sizes and to different working planes according to the activity carried out, it is one of the most sold models in our store. Especially for people with back pain, both mild and acute. In fact, many of them are referred by specialists.
For female anatomies, it helps to lose the habit of crossing the legs. Because of its position (saddle chair), it does not put pressure on the femoral irrigation and facilitates blood circulation in the legs. In the case of people with a height of less than 1.60 meters, it facilitates the support of the feet thanks to its special base.
Herman Miller's popular SAYL chair adopts corrective postures but to a lesser degree than the Capisco. Sitting in this ergonomic chair is closer to the concept of passive comfort, but it will still require some discipline to know how to use it correctly.
La construcción del respaldo con suspensión 3D Intelligent de Sayl brinda apoyo a la zona sacra y permite que la columna mantenga su forma de «S» natural (lordosis lumbar natural). Lo que posibilita que el cuerpo mantenga una postura saludable con menos fatiga.
It is a chair that, following the ergonomic characteristics of the Norwegian chairs, provides a constant anatomical correction, but at the same time facilitates positions of great comfort. For people who suffer from sacrum/ coccyx problems, the special fit of the backrest eliminates pressure at this point. At the same time, its multiple adjustments make it adaptable to multiple human sizes.
El último modelo que ha sacado Herman Miller, COSM, aporta un alto grado de confortabilidad (diríamos que un punto más que las otras dos de arriba), pero a la vez te fuerza a corregir adecuadamente tu forma de sentarte. Te hace ser más «disciplinado», pero en este caso la silla lo hacer por ti, se ajusta de forma automática gracias a su inteligencia.
Cosm's automatic Harmonic tilt puts you first and responds to your movements. Regardless of posture, it always delivers a balanced tilt and personalized comfort.
It is the ideal chair for people who are looking for a perfect adaptation of their anatomy obtaining a great comfort, but at the same time do not have the disposition to regulate the chair according to the task they perform. The impeccable design of the Cosm mesh makes our skeleton adapts perfectly having the feeling that we have overcome gravity. It is the ideal chair for people who need to avoid specific pressure points on their skeleton.
As you can see, we have told you about the most popular ergonomic chairs for back pain, but there are more models of chairs that will help you relieve or avoid back pain when you sit down.
Now, for the ergonomic chair to be 100% optimal in its performance, we must know how to sit on it.
An ergonomic chair is useless if we do not apply good postural hygiene when we sit on it.
We start from the premise that sitting is not a proper posture for the human body. Our spine is designed to be straight and in motion, therefore, the static position of sitting is not natural for people. However, our culture has normalized the 8-hour workday sitting in front of a screen.
How can we reconcile a day that requires many hours in front of a screen with good physical health?
Achieving the position of natural lumbar lordosis (as shown in figure A), or a position as similar as possible, when we are seated. In addition to having an ergonomic chair, taking active breaks during the day and making constant changes of position.
And how do we achieve this natural position of our spine?
Having postural awareness and correctly configuring our chair according to the activity we are going to perform in front of the screen and our anatomical build. Of course, we must always make sure that we are sitting in an ergonomic chair. We explain it in the last section.
It will depend on the type of movements you make in front of the screen, your anatomical build and the muscle pain you suffer. But we will talk in general terms about the most common.
If you would like to receive a personalized treatment according to your needs, you can come and visit us at our store in Barcelona, where our experts will assist you without any obligation.
In summary, as you may have seen, there is no ergonomic chair with the perfect formula for relieving or eliminating back pain. Simply because each person is a different case. It is a matter of knowing how to choose the degree of correction you are willing to achieve, which will depend on the degree of your ailment.
At the same time, combining it with a good posture when sitting and a good postural education (active breaks and constant position changes). In this way, you will be guaranteeing relief from back pain and excellent physical health that will directly affect your mental health, your performance and productivity and your general well-being.
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