You can avoid back pain with the right desk chair by selecting a well-designed office chair that fits your body. If you spend most of your work day sitting, like many of us do, no piece of equipment or furniture is more critical than your chair. The right desk chair chair can ease an achy back, the wrong one can add nagging pain to the distractions you struggle to tune out. Set up your office for a productive workday to ensure your success.
Get the Right Office Chair and Avoid Back Pain
For a great discussion on how to avoid back pain, read this guide to proper posture for seated work from our favorite chiropractor. Good posture now, equals less time spent in your favourite practitioner’s office for therapy later, so win/win! Invest in a good chair and your workday will be more focused, more productive.
We think a good office chair is money well spent. Here is a quick guide for features that will help you feel your best.
What to look for?
Good lumbar support
Avoid slouching by giving your lower back the support it needs and keep unnecessary pain away.
Comfortable seat
Things to look for are a comfortable, well padded seat. A hard, solid wood dining chair is okay in a pinch but if you are going to put in time, make it comfy. If you tend to get hot, a good alternative is an open weave breathable fabric or mesh seat.
Correct arm height
Arms should sit comfortably without causing you to hunch your shoulders, forearms relaxed and hands within easy reach of the keyboard. Some of the higher-end dedicated office chairs have adjustable arms. This is a great feature I wouldn’t want to skip.
Adjustable seat height
A pneumatic adjustment makes it easy to get the seat height right. Look for a chair that positions you with 90 degree angles at the hip and the knee.
A good set of wheels
Can we just agree that a wheel-base is essential for a home office chair. A stationary chair is okay for shorter sits but if you want to move back and forth to a file cabinet etc. you are going to want a good set of wheels. Besides, It’s just fun!
Our Picks
Here are a few of our favourites. Note: we have included some higher priced chairs with all the ergonomic bells and whistles, and some attractive budget friendly choices. Look for a chair that fits your proportions well or opt for one that adjusts to your size. So you get what you pay for in office chairs but there is something for every budget in our selections.
Best ergonomic chairs
All of our favourite ergonomic chairs have lots of options to customize it for your comfort and also for your workspace colour scheme. If a black chair is too officious, pick one in cognac, or grey… there are options for frame colours, seat colours and more. Make it yours!
The Aeron chair, a classic comes in three sizes so there is the perfect fit for everyone. With many custom options this chair is in the top chairs on our list.
The Sayl Chair is another popular model. It too has many customizable options so if black isn’t your look, pick a white one!
The Embody chair. On a personal note, my husband is over 6′ tall and has a long back that brings with it a myriad of back pain issues and after the goldilocks test of trying out many chairs, this was the one that worked best for him. The back is skeleton-like in design and moves with the seated person as they lean and twist to reach into a file cabinet on either side of the desk giving extra support to the back.
The Eames Aluminum Chair classic lines with an officious look slips easily into a modern home office set-up.
Choose the right colour frame and seat to complement your decor and these add style and function to your workspace.
All are great options for any office style, and come in many colours. Use the left and right arrow to scroll through our top picks and click on the images for a direct link to order.
Budget friendly options
We think a good office chair is worth its weight in gold, but if your budget is limited, we have found some super stylish office chairs we love and we know you will too …
These following chairs are all easier on the budget, and ease into a home setting with style to complement your space.
This chair comes in quite a few colours, is wipeable, and will slip into many home office styles.
For a nice all-around chair that slips nicely into home decor, we like this chair.
This chair doesn’t have all the ergonomic properties of an 8 hour a day chair but for occasional use, it slips easily into home decor without looking too ‘officey’.
Scroll left and right to see some of our favourite chairs and click any image for more info on ordering.
So there you have our top picks to help you avoid back pain with the right desk chair.
