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877-694-8398 (toll free) 209-694-8399 (local) |
"The single most important piece of office workstation equipment is your chair. Various studies have shown that 25 to 50 percent of workers who habitually sit in incorrectly fitted or mis-adjusted chairs suffer from back problems. A poorly designed, improperly selected, or worn-out chair will defy all of your attempts to achieve proper posture." Jefferson Lab
There are some basic questions to ask when shopping for a new chair.
Click on each question below to find information about choosing the right chair for you!
If you live in the Sonora vicinity, we offer the opportunity to try before you buy. We will fit you with the proper seating and allow you to try it for at least two days prior to making a decision. If the first chair doesn't work for you, we'll find one that does! Have A Nice Fit carries seating solutions from two different manufacturers to meet the needs and price considerations of everyone. By offering two brands of seating, we are able to offer a full spectrum of quality seating for nearly every pocketbook and situation.
 Office Master chairs are a leader in value-priced chairs. If budget is a prime consideration, Office Master will provide you with the best quality for your dollar and delivery is fast. Many styles of seating are available, all with total adjustability, and a large selection of fabrics and options to fit your needs and your decor.
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 We were initially attracted to the Neutral Posture because of the AbChair and AbStool, a unique solution for professionals who work in a forward-leaning posture. Now we heartily recommend their 5000, 6000, and 8000 series office chairs as a premium chair for people who sit for many hours a day, and especially for people who have sciatica or other back problems. Neutral Posture chairs are of the highest quality including total adjustability, inflatable air-lumbar support, and a wide selection of fabrics. Neutral Posture chairs are registered with the FDA as a registered medical device. Your doctor can prescribe a Neutral Posture chair for specific physical problems and your insurance may cover it. Download the FDA form for your physician's signature here.
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| Do I need a new chair? | BACK TO TOP |
If you are asking this question, you probably do! The reason I started to carry chairs in addition to doing ergonomic evaluations is that I am generally appalled by the seating most people subject themselves to each day. In the Sierra foothills, as in many areas of the country, there are no suppliers of ergonomic seating, so there is no place for people to turn to find a good chair. The local office supply store may carry chairs, but they are generally poor quality with few or no adjustments to fit you and the emphasis is on very low price.
If you have back problems or find your legs going numb or aching, good chances you would benefit from an ergonomic chair. 70% of Americans sit on the job in addition to the sitting we do the rest of the day to eat, travel, watch TV, wait for appointments, etc. The sitting position puts a lot of strain on the back and legs, so it's important to get it right! Poor seating can lead to:
| What things should I look for when shopping for a new chair? | BACK TO TOP |
To the untrained eye, all office chairs tend to look pretty much alike. There is a seat, back, cylinder, wheels, foam padding, upholstery, and sometimes height adjustment. Some seating now incorporates a mesh back, which regardless of claims, offers little in lumbar support.
Here are some basic qualities that should be required in a quality chair:
5-point base, generally with casters. A 5-point base makes movement easier and tipping unlikely. Casters are recommended for most applications, though glides may be appropriate for some hard-floor locations where the chair is not going to be moved frequently. Hard nylon casters are recommended for carpeted areas; soft casters are recommended for hard floors to reduce the chance that the chair will roll away unexpectedly. Two types of locking are generally available as options: locking when you sit in the chair or locking when you get out of the chair.
Seat Pan. The seat pan is the part of the chair you sit on and it supports your weight. It should fit you so that the edge of the seat is about 1" to 2" behind the back of your knees and the edges of the seat extend at least 1" on either side of your hips. The edge of the seat should slope or curve downward, called a "waterfall" edge. Seat pans that are too short or with a distinct front edge restrict circulation to the legs and cause discomfort and damage. A seat tilt mechanism is standard on all quality chairs to allow you to adjust the chair seat angle. An optional seat slider (as in a car seat) allows adjustment of the depth of the seat pan, something I generally recommend, especially if the chair will be shared by multiple users.
The seat foam should be high quality small-cell foam. Fluffy, cushy chairs may feel good for a few minutes, but they compress quickly, lose their shape, and do not provide adequate support throughout the day...and over the years. Generally any chair less than $250 will not be constructed of quality foam. Contoured foam is important to relieve pressure points and higher quality chairs generally are composed of layers of different foams to provide optimal cushioning and support. The more contour the seat provides, the more comfortable you will find the chair. Some manufacturers provide the option of ordering memory foam seat pans, which can be beneficial if quality foam is used, though lower quality memory foams can be un-yielding and may cause more pressure and ultimately do more harm than good.
Backrest and headrest. The backrest is the part of the seat that supports your back and sometimes your shoulders and head, depending on the chair style. Adequate lumbar support is the most important thing in choosing your chair. Some people have very flat backs and too much lumbar curve is uncomfortable, while other people have lower and upper backs with lots of curve which requires a deeper lumbar curve to support them. Most quality chairs have adjustable lumbar controls, though there are quality chairs at the lower end of the price range that do not. If there is no control for lumbar depth, make sure the backrest touches your back at all points. A backrest that doesn't conform to the curve of your back will most likely cause you pain in short order.
If you lean back in your chair to talk on the phone, hold meetings, or just to think or contemplate, you may want to consider chair with a higher backrest or a chair with a headrest. Many chair models come with low back, mid-back, and high-back options. These features come with a price tag, but they will add to your comfort if you are not someone sitting upright, working intently on a computer all day.
For some occupations, a backrest is completely useless! If you are required to work in a forward-leaning position, such as dentists, draftsmen, assembly work, or in a glove box, there is a good chance you have experienced back strain because you must lean forward, often with arms raised, with no support for your torso at all. Your back experiences extreme strain in holding you in this position. We highly recommend that you try the Neutral Posture AbChair or AbStool which provides upper body support when you are leaning forward, and rotates to the back for lumbar support when you are sitting up. There are virtually no other chairs on the market with this ability.
Armrests. Armrests are one of the most controversial features of seating in the ergonomics world and I tend to leave it up to the preference of the person ordering the chair. The ergonomists who are opposed to armrests as a general rule find that they are usually an obstruction, causing people to raise their shoulders and prevent the person from pulling as close to the work surface as they should because the armrests get in the way. When working, the most neutral posture for the arms is to follow gravity, allowing the arms to hang loosely in a natural position at the sides. In addition, armrests can tend to make the seated position more rigid, which is not desirable. Active sitting, that is, moving around frequently in your chair, is conducive to better circulation and healthy body tissues, so anything that restricts movement is not a good thing!
The folks at Neutral Posture disagree, citing research that shows, in a weightless environment, the arms are naturally in a somewhat raised and curved position, so they feel that armrests support this truly neutral position. This may be true in a weightless environment, but that is not where most of us reside! In addition, they feel that the strain of holding the arms all day without support can cause stresses to the shoulders and upper back.In general, I leave it up to each person to decide if they want armrests. Some people feel strongly one way or another and I am not going to argue about it. The sense of security and sometimes relaxation they provide some people is felt to be a necessity. If you purchase a chair with armrests, it's extremely important that they be height and width adjustable, and that you adjust them to their lowest position. This will allow you to rest on them, but they will not cause you to hunch your shoulders when you work. Most quality chairs also have the feature that the armrests are removable with a clip, so when you don't need the arms, you can remove them. Heavy-duty bariatric chairs do not have removable armrests because they need to be firmly attached to the chair and are generally factory installed.
Seat height. Seat height is the one adjustment that many chairs come with, even very inexpensive chairs. It is important to adjust your chair so that your feet rest flat on the floor and your knees and hips are approximately the same height, hips slightly higher. If you have a very old chair where the height adjustment requires turning a ring at the bottom of the chair, you need a new chair. There is no reason you should have to get on all fours and subject yourself to the repetitive motions and grease to adjust your chair. Chairs now come with a lever that is within hand's reach while you are sitting in the chair to adjust the height until it's comfortable. If you need a chair with a shorter or longer cylinder because your work surface is high or you have shorter than average legs, these are all available from a good chair dealer and are very easy to swap.
Seat Tilt. An adjustment should be available so you can adjust the tilt of the seat pan. Some chairs have the capability to have the chair rock, but even without this capability, the chair seat should move independently from the backrest and neither should be locked into a fixed position. Some movement is always desirable.
Footrest. Generally, a footrest is not needed if the chair is the correct size for you. Lab stools and chairs with tall cylinders require either a footring or a footrest so that your feet don't dangle and place pressure on the back of your legs. The main problem with footrings is that they require your knees to be bent at a tight angle under you which is bad for circulation. Neutral Posture has an inexpensive solution called the NeXtep which can be purchased with any lab-height chair or stool or separately. It fits onto the cylinder of the stool and allows you to step easily onto the chair and provides a built-in footrest while your are sitting.
Fabric. For most office environments, fabric or leather is the seat covering of choice. For lab, cleanroom, or other messy environments, vinyl is the best choice because cleanup is easy. Chairs of good quality are upholstered with a variety of fabrics which have been tested for durability. You can compare available fabrics to see which ones will last longer. If you are buying a quality chair, you probably should make sure the fabric will hold up for many years and stay looking nice. Different fabrics can give the same chair model a completely different feel. Some fabrics are thicker and more rigid, making the chair feel less spongy. One fabric by Neutral Posture, Cloud 9, is a knit fabric and it is probably the most comfortable fabric available because it stretches to conform with the chair cushioning when you sit.
One of the advantages of buying a quality ergonomic chair is that everyone in an office can have a different model chair that fits them personally, but the chairs can all be upholstered in the same fabric, giving the office a uniform look.
| What is important to me personally with regard to my chair? | BACK TO TOP |
It may sound silly, but people really do have a relationship with their chairs! If you get a chair that fits you perfectly, is well-made and is upholstered in a fabric you like, you will love your chair and it will take good care of you for years. People often think chairs don't matter much, but they really do!
If your chair is a piece of junk you got on sale for $65, at best, you will think of the chair as simply something that is there to be used....and probably not liked or appreciated very much. If someone has spent a lot of money on a chair, even if it's not an ergonomic chair and it is causing them back pain, they may feel reluctant to admit that it's a problem. Some people really think they have to have a certain look, like the "executive" chair, but these are actually a nightmare for the executive's back and they really don't make you any more important! Better to invest in a good ergonomic chair and get it upholstered in leather than to fall for an ordinary executive chair. I can supply these, but refuse to sell them because they are so bad! There are lots of chairs that claim to be ergonomic that do not meet the criteria in the section above; some are expensive. It's best to do some shopping with the guidelines above in mind, decide what your requirements and budget will allow, and get the best you can afford. If you save a dollar a day for a year, you will be able to afford a decent chair. If you save two dollars every day for a year, you will be able to buy a really superior chair. Wouldn't it be better to buy a good chair and spend less time and money at the chiropractor? Chiropractors are very important to maintain health, but if you find yourself visiting one often because of pain from sitting, perhaps you should take a look at the source of the problem.
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