Sitting position and types of chair that cause back pain

Recently few of my colleagues complain about having back pain. They said that the office chair is the cause of the problem. Actually I felt it too when I sit too long and my lower back started to give out and send me the aching signal. This had leads us to spend a bit of personal money to buy the back support to support our lower back.

We sit in a long period of time due to work purpose, where we need to work 12 hours a day. Improper posture and bad chairs will cause back pain, hand pain, shoulder and neck pain and will tire you excessively.

Recommended Proper Sitting Position

• Hands, wrists, and forearms are straight, in-line and roughly parallel to the floor.
• Head is level or bent slightly forward, forward facing, and balanced. Generally it is in-line with the torso.
• Shoulders are relaxed and upper arms hang normally at the side of the body.
• Elbows stay in close to the body and are bent between 90 and 120 degrees.
• Feet are fully supported by the floor or a footrest may be used if the desk height is not adjustable.
• Back is fully supported with appropriate lumbar support when sitting vertical or leaning back slightly.
• Thighs and hips are supported by a well-padded seat and generally parallel to the floor.
• Knees are about the same height as the hips with the feet slightly forward.

Above is just the recommended sitting position but the fact is truly base on your comfy position. Not advisable to seat at the same position for a long period of time as research found that sitting too long will affects your health. Once in a while we have to change our sitting position, stand up and do some stretching, give yourself some excuse to walk around maybe to toilet or pantry to get some water and etc.

Choosing an appropriate seat

Besides of awareness about sitting posture, having a good chair does effects the overall outcome too. The right office chair should be uniformly support the body, help to maintain neutral postures, allow for easy movement and provide long-term comfort. Choosing a good chair is pretty much identical, because different individuals having different preference depends on the body types. Below are the tips to consider when choosing a seat:

1.       Seat Height: Measure height from the floor to the crease at the back of the knee. Make sure you account for different footwear and heel heights. We recommend a 15" to 21" range.

2.       Seat Depth: While seated, measure the distance from the back of knee to the backrest. The back of the knee is sensitive to pressure and should not come into contact with the seat's edge. You should be able to fit 2-3 fingers between the seat and the back of the knee. A seat slider with an adjustable range of 15" to 20" is recommended to fine-tune depth.

3.       Seat Width: The seat cushion should not be less than 18". Look at the distance between armrests to make sure they are not too wide (reaching to use armrests) or narrow (not able to sit).

My Office Chair

4.       Back Support: The shape of the backrest should follow the natural curves of your back. Look for clearance at the buttocks, padding molded outwards in the mid-lumbar region to support the low back and clearance to allow for unobstructed shoulder movements. Lumbar padding should be height adjustable from 6" to 10". Backrest height should be at least 18". Width should be at least 14". Recline should be adjustable from 93-113 degrees.

5.       Arm Support: Armrests can support the neck and shoulder muscles; however, they may limit access to the keyboard or a section of the desk. Armrests should be set back from the front edge of the seat, and not restrict arm movement or access to the workstation. Armrest height should be the same as the resting elbow height. One of the most common problems is that the armrests do not go low enough.

Basically choosing a chair is out of our scope if you are an employee of a company, because the chair is already there for you without you even get to choose it, unless you are in-charge purchasing office equipment or you are a work from home individual. The thing that we can do is to have a proper sitting position and most importantly don’t sit too long.