4 ms·

Office Chair Is Hurting You

34 points by jaden 7y ago

tboyd47 7y ago
The chair looks awesome but unfortunately it's only 1/4 of the problem. Schools need to change desks, keyboards, and the equipment itself, too.
onemoresoop 7y ago
It is true but one does not need a special chair as much as learning how to sit on any chair. If the chair is really comfortable it invites the sitter in really bad unnatural positions and in no time that creates a bad habit. During my 20s, when I basically entered the workforce, I started having serious issues with sitting. I tried a lot of different chairs and while they ameliorated the pain and numbness something was still wrong. Now, almost at twice that age I have very few chair/back related problems. When something hurts I closely pay attention to how I sit. Of course, exercising with proper posture has helped me overcome some of my issues as well. While most chairs are really bad for most of us, I think chasing a perfect chair is not the solution but learning how to sit and have a proper posture is the essential part.
- tboyd47 7y ago
  Some chairs cut off circulation or physically block proper posture. When so much "ergonomic design" is counterproductive, as the article details, it's worth it to be selective w/r/t equipment.
- blanche_ 7y ago
  Sitting for extended period of time no matter how 'right' you do it is and will be bad.
  - onemoresoop 7y ago
    I agree. Breaks are a necessary part of the sitting hygiene no matter what chair is used.
kjaftaedi 7y ago
>Since yoga balls are made out of cheap plastic, it’s not a question of if the ball will pop, but when. I don't get the feeling this author has much experience with yoga balls, or is just making a statement they want to believe is true and peddling it as fact.
- olyjohn 7y ago
  > The University of Michigan recently banned employees from sitting on yoga balls due to “catastrophic failures.” I mean... they had enough of these balls pop while people were sitting on them to decide to ban them. Do you really believe that most of these, which are probably bought on Amazon, etc., are all made of the highest quality materials, and testing using rigorous QA methodology? Chances are, people are buying the cheapest, $10 yoga balls and not trying to find which one will last.
  - itcrowd 7y ago
    > they had enough of these balls pop while people were sitting on them to decide to ban them Did they, though? I can't find any news story about catastrophic failures of yoga/exercise balls at the University of Michigan (or another university). The author doesn't link or cite anything supporting this allegation. It may fit someone's "Amazon/yoga ball is cheap/crap" narrative, but I don't buy it when the underlying claim is unverifiable.
- philwelch 7y ago
  My wife has always been a remote worker, and she swore off yoga balls after a "catastrophic failure" that may have been cat-related.
- smileysteve 7y ago
  Anecdotally, I've had a yoga ball going on 4 years, though I only sit on them occasionally. I've never heard of one popping, failure on the other hand, can be a bouncing or tripping issue, also sliding off of the front. Though I wouldn't call these catastrophic.
  - 7y ago
symmitchry 7y ago
If standing is so terrible because of immobility perhaps a walking desk is the ideal solution. Remember this amazing post? https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...
CrackerNews 7y ago
The biggest takeaway from this article is the advice that you should not adhere to the 90-90-90 sitting posture and instead raise your seat so that your knees are below your hips. I've personally just tried this and it feels much more comfortable. I theorize that the 90-90-90 posture encourages bad habits where your spine shifts backwards from the center so it is no longer supporting the upper parts of your body well. By changing my sitting posture to the author's recommendation, it feels easier for my spine to stay in the center and support my upper body better.
olyjohn 7y ago
What about motorized desks that allow you to go from sitting to standing? I'm not standing all day, and I'm not sitting all day. Plus I take a walk at least once a day. It's helped me tremendously to have one. I suppose it won't help that doctor sell his chairs, though.
- grawprog 7y ago
  My boss has one of those. He's got pretty bad back problems. His desk rises and lowers. I'll see him standing with it raised occasionally.
- brianwawok 7y ago
  He actually mentions standing desks if you read the article
- bigmit37 7y ago
  Standing seems to be the worst as it puts a lot of pressure on your veins. With sitting if you sit cross-fold with legs not dangling at the edge it seems to prevent v veins?
m463 7y ago
This makes me think about Wolfram's blog post about his "personal infrastructure" He found that for some reason typing while walking outside gave a much lower heart rate than typing on a treadmill. So he worked out a system to walk outside while typing... https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...
- bigmit37 7y ago
  This is something I have been looking into as well. Those foods vendors carry their supplies in that body addon but I wanted to walk around my apt and have a couple of projectors setup so each wall has a copy of my monitor.
Terretta 7y ago
Highly recommend the Swopper ‘Active Sitting’ Chair if you can source it at a reasonable price: https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=swopper+chair https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=swopper+chair Bought one on Amazon in 2008, still love it.
poelzi 7y ago
I had back problems from my crappy office chair that I used for more then a decade. I searched for month for a good replacement, sat on every chair I found in nearly every furniture shop in town. After some month, I found the best chair I ever sat on, and it's by far, not the most expensive one ;) http://www.officeline.se/products/hoganas-eco/ http://www.officeline.se/products/hoganas-eco/ This one is the hit, you can unlock the base so you can use it in different heights. The backrest pressure you can adjust with a button, different locks and full flexible arm rests. I let everybody test sit on it who cares and I only heard excitement so far. Combined with electric table I started to change my working position quite often and my back pain was gone after a month.
- GoToRO 7y ago
  I bookmarked it, who knows. What I don't like about it is how wobbly it looks. Also, why me, as a software developer do I need those wheels to move in any direction. I just need to move back and forth and only when go or leave my desk. On my chair I removed the wheels and put static legs and I put my table on wheels that move only backward and forward. The wheels dig into the carpet, so the table stays put if you don't push too hard. For me office chair is one thing, and software developer chair should be another.
  - poelzi 7y ago
    They give 10 years warranty. I have quite some understanding in mechanical systems and it is well build, thick steel plates. The point is this, sitting long in one position is bad for your back and general posterior. Of course you can change the rollers into static ones, but I wouldn't recommend it.

34 points by jaden 7y ago

The chair looks awesome but unfortunately it's only 1/4 of the problem. Schools need to change desks, keyboards, and the equipment itself, too.

onemoresoop 7y ago

It is true but one does not need a special chair as much as learning how to sit on any chair. If the chair is really comfortable it invites the sitter in really bad unnatural positions and in no time that creates a bad habit. During my 20s, when I basically entered the workforce, I started having serious issues with sitting. I tried a lot of different chairs and while they ameliorated the pain and numbness something was still wrong. Now, almost at twice that age I have very few chair/back related problems. When something hurts I closely pay attention to how I sit. Of course, exercising with proper posture has helped me overcome some of my issues as well. While most chairs are really bad for most of us, I think chasing a perfect chair is not the solution but learning how to sit and have a proper posture is the essential part.

tboyd47 7y ago
Some chairs cut off circulation or physically block proper posture. When so much "ergonomic design" is counterproductive, as the article details, it's worth it to be selective w/r/t equipment.
blanche_ 7y ago
Sitting for extended period of time no matter how 'right' you do it is and will be bad.
- onemoresoop 7y ago
  I agree. Breaks are a necessary part of the sitting hygiene no matter what chair is used.

kjaftaedi 7y ago

>Since yoga balls are made out of cheap plastic, it’s not a question of if the ball will pop, but when. I don't get the feeling this author has much experience with yoga balls, or is just making a statement they want to believe is true and peddling it as fact.

olyjohn 7y ago
> The University of Michigan recently banned employees from sitting on yoga balls due to “catastrophic failures.” I mean... they had enough of these balls pop while people were sitting on them to decide to ban them. Do you really believe that most of these, which are probably bought on Amazon, etc., are all made of the highest quality materials, and testing using rigorous QA methodology? Chances are, people are buying the cheapest, $10 yoga balls and not trying to find which one will last.
- itcrowd 7y ago
  > they had enough of these balls pop while people were sitting on them to decide to ban them Did they, though? I can't find any news story about catastrophic failures of yoga/exercise balls at the University of Michigan (or another university). The author doesn't link or cite anything supporting this allegation. It may fit someone's "Amazon/yoga ball is cheap/crap" narrative, but I don't buy it when the underlying claim is unverifiable.
philwelch 7y ago
My wife has always been a remote worker, and she swore off yoga balls after a "catastrophic failure" that may have been cat-related.
smileysteve 7y ago
Anecdotally, I've had a yoga ball going on 4 years, though I only sit on them occasionally. I've never heard of one popping, failure on the other hand, can be a bouncing or tripping issue, also sliding off of the front. Though I wouldn't call these catastrophic.
- 7y ago

symmitchry 7y ago

If standing is so terrible because of immobility perhaps a walking desk is the ideal solution. Remember this amazing post? https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...

CrackerNews 7y ago

The biggest takeaway from this article is the advice that you should not adhere to the 90-90-90 sitting posture and instead raise your seat so that your knees are below your hips. I've personally just tried this and it feels much more comfortable. I theorize that the 90-90-90 posture encourages bad habits where your spine shifts backwards from the center so it is no longer supporting the upper parts of your body well. By changing my sitting posture to the author's recommendation, it feels easier for my spine to stay in the center and support my upper body better.

olyjohn 7y ago

What about motorized desks that allow you to go from sitting to standing? I'm not standing all day, and I'm not sitting all day. Plus I take a walk at least once a day. It's helped me tremendously to have one. I suppose it won't help that doctor sell his chairs, though.

grawprog 7y ago
My boss has one of those. He's got pretty bad back problems. His desk rises and lowers. I'll see him standing with it raised occasionally.
brianwawok 7y ago
He actually mentions standing desks if you read the article
bigmit37 7y ago
Standing seems to be the worst as it puts a lot of pressure on your veins. With sitting if you sit cross-fold with legs not dangling at the edge it seems to prevent v veins?

m463 7y ago

This makes me think about Wolfram's blog post about his "personal infrastructure" He found that for some reason typing while walking outside gave a much lower heart rate than typing on a treadmill. So he worked out a system to walk outside while typing... https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-productive-life-some-details-of-my-personal-infrastructure/ https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...

bigmit37 7y ago
This is something I have been looking into as well. Those foods vendors carry their supplies in that body addon but I wanted to walk around my apt and have a couple of projectors setup so each wall has a copy of my monitor.

Terretta 7y ago

Highly recommend the Swopper ‘Active Sitting’ Chair if you can source it at a reasonable price: https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=swopper+chair https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=swopper+chair Bought one on Amazon in 2008, still love it.

poelzi 7y ago

I had back problems from my crappy office chair that I used for more then a decade. I searched for month for a good replacement, sat on every chair I found in nearly every furniture shop in town. After some month, I found the best chair I ever sat on, and it's by far, not the most expensive one ;) http://www.officeline.se/products/hoganas-eco/ http://www.officeline.se/products/hoganas-eco/ This one is the hit, you can unlock the base so you can use it in different heights. The backrest pressure you can adjust with a button, different locks and full flexible arm rests. I let everybody test sit on it who cares and I only heard excitement so far. Combined with electric table I started to change my working position quite often and my back pain was gone after a month.

GoToRO 7y ago
I bookmarked it, who knows. What I don't like about it is how wobbly it looks. Also, why me, as a software developer do I need those wheels to move in any direction. I just need to move back and forth and only when go or leave my desk. On my chair I removed the wheels and put static legs and I put my table on wheels that move only backward and forward. The wheels dig into the carpet, so the table stays put if you don't push too hard. For me office chair is one thing, and software developer chair should be another.
- poelzi 7y ago
  They give 10 years warranty. I have quite some understanding in mechanical systems and it is well build, thick steel plates. The point is this, sitting long in one position is bad for your back and general posterior. Of course you can change the rollers into static ones, but I wouldn't recommend it.