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For those with lower-back issues, what's been the best work-chair for you?
(media.piefed.social)
Me, I have a disease which is kinda wiping out my connective tissue over time, which includes those lovely soft discs in my spine, dammit. Biggest current issue with that is that it's getting harder and harder to sit at my desk for more than ~15min without lower back pain ratcheting up...
So I was wondering if anyone here with lower back issues has found a chair that helped them sit?
From L-R, T-B, chair #2 is a saddle chair, which looks kinda interesting. Chair #4 is one I used to have, which seemingly tries to keep the spine perfectly straight-up, but it was also hell on my knees.
Now, chair #3 kinda looks like a Star Trek-style bumper-car that I'd want to ride in my very last visit to an amusement park. 😄
(right-click as needed)
I don't personally run into it, but I'd imagine that you'd be better-off in a more-reclined position, since that'd put less pressure on said discs.
I'd probably try sitting in a reclined position for an extended period of time and see if that's less of a problem.
If mitigates it, I'd probably try to find something that can recline a long ways. Probably armless, like a sunlounger.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sunlounger
If you use a computer and can't sit at a desk while reclined that far, maybe get:
A split keyboard. You can put each half on one side, each on some flat platform like two adjustable-height small, low tables or similar.
Something to hold your laptop or monitor up in front of your face. For monitors, you're looking for something with a VESA mount that supports tilting downwards; this will screw into the back of most monitors.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=vesa+mount+arm
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=vesa+bed+mount
Note that these will have weight limits, so you'll need to know what the monitor will weigh.
Indeed. I typically have to rest on my back for ~90% of my waking hours due to late-stage CFS/ME.
I do happen to be pretty handy, and have designed all that stuff out of scrap and screws, many years ago. It's helped enormously over time, and maybe I should have put that in the post?
I appreciate your advice and concern, and taking your time upon all that, in any case. *fist-bump*
Ah, good...I mean, bad, but I'm glad that it suggests that it might help.
One more suggestion
a number of sunloungers are available in (nylon, I guess?) mesh. For them, I think it's to help water drain if the sunlounger is outside and gets rained on.
However, mesh is also popular with some higher end office chairs, like Aerons, since it lets airflow carry away sweat; if someone is sitting on the thing for eight hours a day, it becomes a factor. I've used those (both Aeron and some more-affordable knockoffs) and I've generally liked them, other than the fact that I found the hard front edge up towards one's knees that supports the mesh to put more pressure on my legs than I like and get uncomfortable. However, if you find a sunlounger that doesn't have a bar sticking across your upper legs for supporting the mesh
and many seem not to
you probably won't run into that issue. Might be able to take advantage of some of the perks of pricy office chairs that way.
Also, I don't know if the cost is an issue. If this is a desk at work, if it were me, I'd probably just get it myself and cruise into the office with it myself so as to just choose whatever I want...but if you're (a) in the US and (b) it counts as being handicapped, I believe that there is some obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act for your employer to make reasonable efforts to mitigate a handicap if you can still effectively do the job with those mitigations. I can't cite specifics off the top of my head, but it may include picking up something like this. Might be something to look into, if it's relevant to your situation.
Depends on the back problem. For my situation, reclining was the worst thing to do.
Worth noting, a decline of like 20 degrees is a lot worse for me. Puts all the pressure on my SI joints. So like you mentioned with the sun chair, you do in fact need to have a significant recline to take the pressure off. And the mouse is really the hard one to handle for that. Trackball mice can be the solution if it doesn't bother your thumb too much.