December 27, 2004

• Don't get a chair. Buy one of those yoga balls and use that instead. It's not a panacea, but it has helped me immensely. At one time (and perhaps still today), that was what Adobe's ergonomics group recommended for people having back problems with their office chairs.
• Not much on chairs, but when my back gives me the fits the best thing I can do is a nice regimen of stretching and excercise. Even a couple of minutes an hour can do wonders if I have to sit still for long periods of time. Also, be VERY aware of your posture, including how you hold your arms. Butt as far back as it can go, sit up straight, hold your head up, feet flat on the floor, shoulders back, etc... If you can find someone who knows Alexander technique, look into it. A good chair should make good posture comfortable. One thing to look for. In fact, I'd suggest that even in a crappy chair, if you learn how to sit well, and learn some stretches and excercises to do, you can help your back problems. on preview: I've seen chairs which are made from yoga balls. never sat in one, though.
• Fatoudust is right. Your problem may be lack of exercise (if you're not already exercising, that is). If you're not exercising/stretching, no chair is going to help. Personally, my back-pain cure is running 2-6 miles a week. It's cheap, works out all the kinks, and doesn't take up a lot of time. /spends a lot of time in front of a computer in a crappy Staples office chair.
• Sorry to continue this theme of 'not so much the chair but the application of it' but if you are suffering from a fair degree of discomfort I'd say see a professional sooner rather than later. I cunningly waited and got a herniated disc for my troubles. I'm not sure if you have an equivalent wherever you might be but here (New Zealand) we have a government department which will organise workstation evaluations (monitor high enough, desk height right etc) which may be a better thing long term. Also wanted to mention I had a crack at the yoga ball thing and it just exacerbated matters, I'm sure it works well for some folk but just dependent on where exactly the problem is.
• don't get an aeron. they provide no comfortable way to slouch. and before the posture nazi's get all lit up, keep well in mind that after 8 hours sitting in a chair i damm well want to get into as horizontal of a position as possible. who cares about long-term effects of how you sit when you've got 4 more hours of work left and it's 4 in the morning. get something with a head rest, and that can recline waaaaaaay back. and with very deep/soft seat. i have this plan to get a drivers seat from a chrysler 300m (most comfortable car seat i've ever spent days in), mount it to a barber chair base (foot support is also a requirement) and power it up. now THAT would be a throne to spend hours upon hours coding away in. fully power adjustable, foot support, head support, leather. awesome. i'm doin it. someday.
• Don't talk to me about back pain, forky, I have spondyloarthropathy. Try prounouncing that when you're pissed out o' your head. I recently bought a new computer chair, a cheap $80 job from Kmart, which has nice lumbar & upper back support, & my pain in sitting posture has gone down to a fraction of what it used to be with my old chair. Out of 4 chairs I've bought in the last 6 years, it actually is the best. So I would say avoid buying highly priced stuff, go for something that has gas adjustable height, a straight but comfortable back support, & armrests that allow you to keep your arms at the proper height with the desk. Get a mouse pad with those bumps to support your wrist, too. You'd be surprised how improper arm posture can impact on the muscles in your back. Other than that, use caution, as one person's comfort is another person's pain. You need to identify specifically what is causing the stress to your back, & what needs to be adjusted, then buy a chair accordingly. Everyone's body shapes are slightly different, so it can be a murky area. But you have my sympathy; recurrent back pain is a nightmare.
• Second the balls. I've had terrible strain with all chairs and seem to have the best results with those immobile folding chairs. I also spend a lot of time standing at the computer. My desk has a nifty crank-handle-thing that lets it be raiselowered with negligible effort. A coworker of mine uses a unicycle sometimes.
• my links were disappearing--are my urls too long?--so i'm just including the web address parenthetically. you might want to do a professional assessment (http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/AHTutorials/chairch.html) of your needs before you buy. i always thought these (www.kneelsit.com/) were cool, and apparently, there's now a second generation (www.kneelsit.com/) that includes a backrest. this (www.sitincomfort.com/swopper.html) looks like it could potentially be fun, but also like it might do more damage than good. being sedentary, i had to google yoga ball, but found this (www.sitincomfort.com/alseat.html), which includes the chair part with the yoga ball, and this one (www.sitincomfort.com/dorier.html), which reminds me either of a vacuum cleaner or something out of dr. who. i'm waiting for my office to approve these (www.sitincomfort.com/zerrec.html). god knows, there are plenty of days i could use a nap at my desk. can i actually *recommend* any of them. nah. i just want some music!
• DO NOT buy the chair online. You need to actually sit in it to test it to see where it hits you. I'm six feet tall and long-leggedy, and I have a hell of a time finding office chairs that work for me. The best one I ever found looked - in my co-workers' words - like a medieval torture device or the chair of Captain Kirk in hell. But I could (did) work 18 hour days in that chair with no back problems. Plenty of OTHER problems but not relating to my muscles.
• Another vote for big balls. I used one for an office chair for many years. Big balls have some limitations when compared to regular chairs. First, you'll need to pump them up regularly. Second, when you're really fall-over tired, you won't be able to sit at your computer and work yourself to death (though that, arguably, is an advantage). Finally, when you're not sitting on them, they tend to toll away awkwardly.
• I used to have one of the knee-sit chairs, and they were quite comfy for extended sitting. They also "force" your back into being comfortable in the correct posture. If you get one, look for a thick, durable knee cushion, since this is the part that wears out first. Once that's gone, the chair's useless. (Obviously, don't get this if you have knee problems. While I loved my chair, my mom (who has bad knees) hated it.)
• My ex had something like the kneelsit chair but without a back. He loved it and was very sad when it broke down, but I have knee trouble and hated the thing. (Nostrildamus, we should compare notes about bum joints). I strongly second Nostrildamus' recommendation of a wristpad for your mouse. I have one and it makes a lot of difference. I have a laptop that sits on a stand and so I don't use the keyboard pad, but if I were using an external keyboard, I'd use one of those too. My best luck has been with an antique Windsor chair that doesn't do so much for my lower back but cradles my butt and bum hip just right. The dining room chair from Pottery Barn I'm currently sitting on is almost as good for me. Whatever you do, though, don't buy a chair without doing a butt-test.
• I have to join the pro-ball crowd. I've been using one at work since Easter, and now find it painful to sit on a regular office chair. (Maybe that's more of a comment on the chairs we're provided with.) But you'll be sore for a few days while you get used to it, and people you work with will comment (until they get their own).
• i thought my back/hip problems were due to my chair at work. now that i'm exercising four-five times per week, no more aches and pains!
• ♥ I'm six feet tall and long-leggedy /sweats I do not have a suggestion as I too am on the lookout for a comfy seat. This is very helpful. Thanks. jimjam's plan is my favorite so far.
• well, for what it's worth, i have a partially extruded disk, and the bog-standard 40 year old steelcase chair i was given doesn't help much. it sits a bit too low for me (mr. frogs is 6'4") and is sort of overly firm. but what kills it for me is that it has no way to lock the back, so leaning back makes the chair tilt backwards. last place i worked got new chairs about a year before i left; all the desk chairs had multiple adjustments (seat depth, backrest height, arm width, etc.) but everything had some sort of lock, so that you could set the back to be firm and supportive for those days you really need it, and you can unlock it to make the back soft and forgiving for those days you really need a nap. and i second the recommendation to test, test test the chair before buying. my advisor bought a chair sight unseen, and hated it the minute she first sat in it.