Sitting Comfortably! – Is an Ergonomic Chair Right for You?

By: Allison Thompson
Submitted: 2007-01-17 12:48:45
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As you know a vast amount of your time when at work is spent sitting at your desk and this results in a large amount of stress being placed on your spine. One way of avoiding the development of any sort of back problems is that you or your employer should look at purchasing a good quality ergonomic office chair. These types of chairs help to improve your posture whilst sat at your desk which should help to prevent any stress to your lower back.

Today you will find there are many types of ergonomic office chairs available on the market, but you need to look carefully before deciding which will be the right one for you.

One of the first things that you should ask yourself when looking for the right chair is will I be comfortable not only at the beginning of the day but also by the end of my working day.

There are features you will find on an ergonomic office chair that are standard and which you usually find are optional on a standard office chair.

Firstly, you will find that on most office chairs they will have an easily adjustable height level which allows the user to sit comfortably on the seat whilst their feet are placed flat on the floor.

You will find with an ergonomic office chair the seat should provide you with enough width and depth to support you correctly and comfortably, you don’t want to be sitting on a seat that seems to throw you forward and therefore puts you in the wrong posture position. Also remember to look how deep the seat is, if you are able to sit comfortably on it with your back against the backrest and find that you have between 2-4 inches of space between the back of your knees and the seat then this is the ideal one for you. Another option found of most ergonomic office chairs you will find as standard is the tilt mechanism for the seat. This is ideal for people who are slightly shorter in the leg and find it difficulty even with the seat completely lowered to place their feet flat on the floor.

The next thing that a good ergonomic office chair will provide you with is support for your lower back. Due to the design of your spine which curves inward at the lower section you need to ensure that the backrest provides you with plenty of support. An ergonomic chair provides such a feature and you will find that your posture improves and this results in less strain being put on your lower back. Many ergonomic office chairs are provided with a lumbar adjustment mechanism to ensure that your back is well supported at all times.

Another standard feature of all ergonomic office chairs is the width of their backrests. These usually range between 12 and 19 inches. When looking at the backrests of such a chair there are a number of issues you must consider. Firstly if the backrest is separate from the seat of the chair can it be adjusted both for height and angle. Don’t forget that this part of the chair will be supporting the natural curve of your spine and giving the necessary support to avoid you causing injury to your lower back. But if the backrest is joined to the seat of the chair you need to make sure that this is provided with an adjustment mechanism for both forward and backward angles and that there is locking mechanism with it for ensuring that it is secure in the position that you feel most comfortable in.

There are a number of other features you can look at when researching what sort of ergonomic office chair is right for you and these are as follows:-

Seat – The material that the seat is made of should be breathable (don’t forget people sweat) and that it should have enough padding to enable you to sit on it comfortably for extended periods of time.

Armrests – These should be adjustable and allow you to rest your arms comfortably which will result in your shoulders being placed in a more relaxed position and therefore helping to stop further stress to your spine. Make sure that when you are typing your elbows and lower arms should be resting lightly on the armrests and the forearm should be raised.

Last but not least the chair should be able to easily rotate so that you reach various parts of your desk with putting any additional strain on to your back or body.

We hope you have found this article to be beneficial in helping you to make a decision about what is the right ergonomic office chair for you.

Allison Thompson webmaster of http://www.sitting-comfortably.com a site providing you with the latest information and data on office chairs, which will help you to obtain an informative decision on what is the right type of office chair for you.

Article source: Expert Articles