Chairs that Won't Wreck Your Back?

texatut asks: "I'm sure many of you are familiar with this secenario. You spend 10-12 hours a day in a crappy chair, and your back pays the price. I know there are chairs there that cost in excess of $1000 that alleviate the problem, but that's a lot of money to pay for a chair. I wanted to ask you all to give recommendations and opinions on chairs that are in a slightly lower price range, say, below $600. My back thanks you in advance."

Personal Opinion

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude,

Get off your butt and go to a store and try sitting in some different chairs!

There are hundreds of chair designs out there and I've sat in a variety of crappy chairs. If you want a good one, you are going to pay for it. The reason office chairs cost so much is because they are built to last a long time. We've got chairs that are over 20 years old from Steel Case. Generally, I am not pleased with the newer chairs and actually prefer the old ones. But they don't work for fat people because you can't sit down if you can't get your ass past the arm rests. Heck some fat folks ordered these chairs with arm rests the slide to the sides to accommodate their fat assess.

Want to save money? Look for used office furniture shops, you could get a great chair for a whole lot less then what they cost new.

adjustable desk

[wiswaud]

at work we have desks that are adjustable in height. if i find myself uncomfortable at some point in the day, i'll just lift the desk (we have spring-loaded and motorized versions, both almost effortless to operate) and work standing for a while.
does wonders.

Get a Swiss Ball

[stinkyelf]

Your back will hurt a lot for the first 2 weeks as the muscles develop strength, persevere and take a break when it becomes too much. After a little while like this your back will be strong and posture good.

The important thing with a swiss ball is the height of it, when you sit on it your knees should be slightly below your ass.

Make sure you get a good strong ball, the cheap ones simply do NOT work.

I have a mediball pro 65cm which is good for my height (186cm), and haven't had any complaints in the couple of years that I've been using it.

Non-office chair

[drivers]

I used to have back pain at work, and I got sick of fiddling with the settings of poorly made office chairs trying to get them to relieve my back pain. (Also, I asked for the same office chair I bought for myself at home, which was only $100, but my work was too cheap to buy it for me.) I started using what I would call a guest chair. Basically it is a solid chair: no wheels, no adjustments. Just a solid wooden frame with cloth coverings, a wide and deep (front to back) seat and armrests with a low back. I think the key here is solidity. It doesn't give way to weight or creak at all. You know how when you sit in a cheap office chair something gives way, and it creaks when you shift positions? Not in this chair. Since then, no back complaints. I think that in most chairs you tense various muscles to compensate for the lack of support. I suppose it depends on the exact chair, so at least try something beside "computer" chairs.

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Re:Herman Miller Aeron

[transiit]

Or don't.

I find them to be scratchy and horrible. Nothing special as far as ergonomics go. Remember, Herman Miller also gave us the cubicle. Way to go.

At home, I've got a ~$100 chair picked up from the local office products store. Checked out all of them until I found one I liked.

At work, I've got some ergonomic wonder, but my company is also just large enough to freak out if they think we'll have grounds for an RSI lawsuit, so they'll readily accomodate us if we start complaining.

The best advice here is to take semi-regular breaks. Regular exercize probably wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, either.

-transiit

Re:Steelcase Leap

[silvwolf]

I'll second this. Some of the newer areas at work have these in all the cubes. I love going to those places to work on the workstations! Even though the chairs aren't adjusted for me, they're still way more comfortable than any other chair I've tried.

My current chair at home is falling apart so I started looking around for a good deal on a Leap. I've quickly looked at some of the local retailers listed on Steelcase's site, but couldn't find any prices on them. No real discounts found on Froogle either, and I'm not a big eBayer.

Re:well

[Eideewt]

Although it's a joke, that's not a bad idea. Sitting on the floor is actually very comfortable. It could draw a few stares at the office, but if you're trying to construct some sort of ergonomic home setup, you should give it a try. Works well for me anyway. It's also cheaper than a chair.