How To Choose The Best Office Chairs And Solve Your Back Pain Woes

How To Choose The Best Office Chairs And Solve Your Back Pain Woes

The way our working area is set up, our posture, and the level of activity we engage in throughout the day all put our spine at risk. Sitting all day also reduces the amount of oxygen entering the body.

Reduction of stress and injuries to the back starts with choosing the right office chair for the right task or purpose. For every office chair, adjustability is the number one feature to look out for besides comfort. The adjustability feature of an office chair helps set or configure it to one’s required angle to get the full support needed for daily office tasks.

When choosing the best office chairs, choose one that allows for movement and supports you across a range of working postures; from reclining to leaning forward to focus on the work surface in front.

An average corporate Nigerian spends about 40 hours a week at the office. Of the 8 hours spent at work each day, the majority is spent in a sitting position. According to Chartered Ergonomist; Stephen Bowden, sitting puts a lot of pressure on muscles and joints resulting in lasting pain.

Your chair should offer pneumatic seat-pan height adjustment, a backrest that tilts backward and forward, backrest tension control, and lumbar support. For this reason, it is imperative that we get ourselves the right office chair that suits our needs and comfort.

With an increasing demand for ergonomic and cost-effective office chairs, office furniture companies in Lagos now have a big task in their hands. At Equinox Furniture, we are ever ready for your demands in sophisticated, ergonomic, and cost-effective office furniture.

There are basic things to take note of in choosing the best office chair to ensure office life does not affect our health.

#1 Select a chair that offers good lumbar support

Most activities at work are done while seated behind a desk, at the counter, or even in front of a computer screen. Ergonomic chairs have firm, contoured backs which are designed to provide support to the lower, middle, and upper back.

Chairs with adequate lumbar support will provide enough protection for back muscles and the spine. The height of the backrest should also be adjustable. Lack of or inadequate lumbar support to the upper back and neck will result in soreness of muscles as well as migraines. A chair with good lumbar support will offer a little bit of curve in the backrest and help us sit without injuring our backs or damaging or stressing the spine. [Read: Importance of lumbar support in office chairs].

According to Jack Callaghan; a professor at the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, posture is a critical factor in office chair selection. Good support for the low back is an important consideration in office chair selection. Office furniture companies in Lagos and neighboring states need to educate their customers properly on the importance of lumbar support in office chairs.

For offices located in warmer climate regions, mesh fabric is more suitable for back support. This is to ensure better air circulation, comfort, and durability. Any moisture that might affect the look, feel, or smell of a fabric or leather chair will evaporate or vaporize from a mesh material and the likelihood of skin irritation and germ growth becomes much reduced. [Read: Top quality mesh chairs to consider buying]

#2 Choose a chair with adjustable arms

An office chair with adjustable arms will enable you to align with your work desk, workstation, or computer keyboard as the case may be without having to stress yourself. This allows your elbows and forearms to be supported by the armrests.

By aligning the elbow and wrist on the keyboard, many repetitive wrist and hand injuries can be avoided. This way, you will have no reason to lean forward to write on your desk or make use of the computer keyboard and an upright sitting position will be maintained hence; no undue stress is exerted on the spine.

#3 Select chairs with a moveable seat pan

The seat pan makes the rotation of the pelvis possible. The rotation of the pelvis can alter the lumbar spine position. When we sit, the pelvis rotates backward which causes the lumbar spine to flex. Sitting in the best possible posture may have a good spine alignment but without movement, this process is impaired. Movement is a key factor here.

#4 Avoid sitting for too long

Having a decent and comfortable office chair is not enough; there is a need to take a break from time to time to stretch the back and legs. How can you achieve this? It is quite simple; all you have to do is stand up from your sitting position every 45 minutes or 1 hour because sitting for long hours is injurious to the back because it increases stress on your spine and spinal discs.

Prolonged sitting with a posture such as slouching forward and slumping back may contribute to back pain. Over time, incorrect sitting posture can damage spinal structures and contribute to or worsen back pain. Preserving the health of your spine requires active muscle use to maintain correct posture.

The following tips can help support your lower back while sitting:

  • Keep knees bent at 90 degrees angle with feet flat on the ground: For best results, adjust your seat height so that your hips are about the same height as or slightly higher than your knees. This will help reduce stress on your lumbar spine. For shorter persons, it might be necessary to have the height of your table or workstation reduced to allow for this.
  • Avoid slouching forward and slumping back: Over time, poor posture while sitting can increase the amount of stress placed on other areas of your body. To minimize the amount of stress placed on your back, you should sit as close as possible to your desk with your head upright, your upper arms parallel to your spine and your hands rested at a 90-degree angle on your work surface. Sit up straight with ears above the shoulders.
  • When working on a computer, adjust the height of the monitor so that your eyes see the top third of the screen when looking straight ahead. If you are using a small screen computer, you might need to prop the height of the screen a bit higher for this using any of our available standing desks. [Read: Are standing desks better for you?]
  • Get an ergonomic office chair: If you spend hours sitting in the office, you should have a chair that is comfortable and ergonomic to withstand hours of sitting. An ergonomic chair, when used can help maximize back support and maintain good posture while sitting. To get the best out of your ergonomic chair, it is necessary to adjust the office chair to the proportions of your body. This is necessary to improve comfort and reduce aggravation to the spine.

The first step in setting up an office chair is to establish the desired height of the individual’s desk or workstation. This decision is determined by the type of work to be done and by the height of the person using the office chair. The height of the desk or workstation itself can vary and will need different positioning of the office chair or a different type of ergonomic chair.

Ergonomics is not all about adjustable height or thick plush cushions; there is so much more. Ergonomics is all about comfort, adjustability, and mobility.

A good ergonomic desk chair is not inexpensive, yet it does not have to break the bank. When you buy furniture online in Nigeria, make sure it is affordable and also satisfies your ergonomic requirements.

To get work done, sitting on office chairs for prolonged hours is inevitable therefore the importance of procuring ergonomic chairs. There are numerous benefits derived from using ergonomic office chairs and they include:

  • Increased productivity due to improved comfort
  • Decreased absenteeism and medical treatment claims
  • Improved morale and job satisfaction which also improves employee retention
  • Improved health and safety in the workplace
  • Increased quality of work

At Equinox Furniture, we are passionate about getting workers into desk chairs that work well and feel right. A featured product in the ergonomic series is our EQPM302 (Equinox Ergonomic Executive Mesh Chair) designed specifically to provide workers with adequate comfort as well as functionality through their long day-to-day office works irrespective of their height or weight.

Some features of our EQPM302 include:

  • Ability to conveniently carry heavy-weight individuals
  • Class 4 Gas Lift, purity of nitrogen, 99.7%
  • Adjustable Armrest, 100000 fatigue test
  • Adjustable headrest
  • Seat made with molded foam
  • Highly elastic mesh, conform to CA 117-2013 fire retardant
  • 350mm Nylon base star leg, can load up to 1136 kilograms
  • 60mm PU Castors, anti-abrasion.

Read the specifications properly before making an order if you intend to buy furniture online in Nigeria to avoid placing an order for furniture that will end up not serving the purpose for which it was bought.

Click here to place an order for our EQPM302

Other products that fall under this category include EQPM303, EQEGM07, and EQEGM01 to mention a few.

  1. Determine your resting eye level: Close your eyes while sitting comfortably with your head facing forward. Open your eyes slowly. Your gaze should be aimed at the center of your computer screen. If your computer screen is higher or lower than your gaze, you need to either raise or lower it to reduce strain on the upper spine.
  2. Position objects within arm’s reach: When the workstation or workspace is well set up, the office chair will be positioned close to the work surface or table with the user’s comfort in mind. With a well-set-up workspace, objects on the work surface and around it get closer without having to stretch.

At Equinox Furniture, we have experts that can help you achieve this. All you need do is contact us and you will be glad you did.

To fix your office chairs and solve your back pain woes, we are just a phone call away; contact us at 08030881676 and 08033087048. You can also reach us via email at equinoxng@gmail.com and info@equinoxcollections.com or through any of our social media platforms:

CREDITS