Know Your Sofas

When shopping for an ergonomic chair online, finding the best chair for you depends on what kind of work you do and whether you need it at home or at work. Most people spend hundreds of dollars on a new computer, then go out and buy a cheap poor quality computer chair from an office supply store. It’s not very likely that you’ll find a cheap ergonomic chair. If you’re willing to buy a used chair you may be able to find a used ergonomic office chair or an expensive chair like the Aeron chair online or on eBay.

Medical chairs and dental chairs benefit from using ergonomics. And clean-room chairs and ESD chairs are also on the market. These chairs come with height adjustable options as well as seat pan and a back option and have inflatable lumbar support and footrest options. If you work in a lab you may need an ergonomic lab chair or lab stool on a tall cylinder with or without arms; when you’re working while sitting on a taller stool you’ll need to consider a foot-rest to give you just the right support for you feet, ankles and knees. Ergonomic task chairs have height-adjustable, pivoting arm rests and oversized and linear tracking arms.

Ergonomic executive office chairs or seating, also called managers’ chairs, are often available with a higher back and leather or stitched leather upholstery. They usually have a knee tilt mechanism, which is perfect for multi-tasking; this makes it easy to go from computer work to phone conferences with ease. Some of the online stores can build an ergonomic lab chair or lab stool chair to fit your specs if you can’t find one that works for you.

A seat pan with a sliding mechanism is also a good feature; this allows both small and tall users to adjust the distance from the back rest. And an adequate lumbar support is the most critical element of a backrest. Many chairs come with a built-in lumbar adjustment, which can be adjusted by turning a knob that’s on the side of the chair.

Look at the casters - choose the hard casters for carpeting and the rubber-coated ones for hard surfaces. The chair recline or tilt adjustment changes the angle of the seat in relation to the floor. Find an ergonomic chair with casters and a 5-point base to ease movement and minimize any tipping.

In general, nylon carpet casters are standard, but soft wheel casters can be found for hard surfaces such as linoleum. It’s important to buy a chair which uses dense, small-cell foam padding or spring coils to retain its support and cushioning, usually found only in higher quality chairs.

Both home and office ergonomics are important because we spend a lot more time today using a computer both at the office and at home. And sitting at workstations that aren’t designed with ergonomics in mind can contribute to serious problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive stress injuries.

Some online stores rent out ergonomic chairs and other expensive equipment. You can try out a chair for a month before deciding if you want to buy it and if you decide to keep the chair, the stores apply the rental price toward the total cost of purchase. And very good deals can be found online and at office furniture consignment and resale shops. Remember that you probably spend many hours on your computer and a purchase is really a long-term investment in your health.

Helen Hecker