How To Reduce Back Pain On The Office Chair?

Our bodies are supposed to be in an active mode all the time. However, a sedentary lifestyle and sitting for prolonged hours can affect us in the worst ways. It causes issues with our posture and our health; Vanderbilt University says that the average person spends 55% of total working hours in a seated position. What happens next is that keeping our bodies in this static position for too long results in tension, stiffness, and pains. All of this can be felt around the spine and reaches your back, neck, and shoulders. If ignored, it can result in permanent lower back problems. You can work well and reduce back pain in an office chair using these tips.     

Take scheduled breaks

Staying seated at work for a prolonged time isn’t good for you. Since you do need to dedicate ample time to your projects, you can reduce lower back pain sitting on an ergonomic chair. This type of chair facilitates an ergonomic sitting posture and reduces muscle stress in the legs, back, arms, shoulders, etc.  You could schedule frequent breaks where you can get up and walk around to promote circulation. When you do need to sit down, ensure that you are using an office ergonomic chair.

Make changes to the workspace

If you suffer from recurring back pains or already have a slew of aching muscles, adjust your workspace to suit you better. You can begin by getting the best ergonomic chair based on your needs and budget. Then, don’t forget about your desk; adjust the desk to an appropriate height so you’re comfortable. If the desk has adjustment limitations, you can try altering the height of the chair instead. An ergonomic chair with back support is a good choice for this reason and to reduce back pain on an office chair.      

Check your posture

Maintain optimal spine health by sitting correctly. Slouching forward, slumping even in an office chair, lower back pain, strains your discs, ligaments, and muscles. To minimize this, you could be closer to your desk, keeping your head upright and arms parallel to the spine at a 90-degree angle. Then try aligning your eyes to your computer screen. If your resting eye level doesn’t fall on the center of the screen, or if you find yourself tilting lower or higher, make necessary adjustments.    

Keeping items within reach

All of the things you need, your bottle, pens stand should be on your desk or within arm’s reach. This reduces too much unnecessary stretching and reduces back pain on an office chair that can lead to you straining ligaments. It also prevents you from moving out of the correct sitting posture position, mentioned in the last point, and keeps you in the correct position for longer.  

Lower back position

Sitting correctly in your ergonomic chair can help you to reduce back pain in an office chair. Your rear needs to reach the edge of the back of the chair. Ensure that the seat pad of the chair has a cushion, or you can add one of your own; this makes your back arch slightly, preventing slouching or slumping. It prevents fatigue in the lower back as well. Alternately, you could invest in an office chair for lower back pain to minimize pain in this region.    

Adjusting your chair

When you look up how to relieve back pain with an office chair, you’ll find that you can make multiple adjustments to the chair. The reason is that most of us need to stay next to our desks that can’t be easily adjusted. Everyone has a different workstation as well. One thing we can do for optimal body health is to adjust your ergonomic chair. If you’ve already got on and are still finding it tough to work, try these things:

Chair armrests

Ergonomic chairs come with armrests that you can adjust. It’s important to align and use these armrests so that your arms are slightly lifted at the shoulder. This takes the extra strain off your shoulders and spine and prevents slouching. Adjust both armrests, so your body falls into this position naturally. Ensure that your elbows stay on the armrests for as much time as possible.

Chair height

To check for the optimal seat height, sit as close to your desk as possible. Your arms should be parallel to your spine, and your hand should sit comfortably on the desk surface and form a 90-degree angle. If your elbows position goes higher or lower than this, you need to adjust the chair's height to reduce back pain on the office chair. Usually, ergonomic chairs have a lever under the seat for this purpose. Turn this and raise or lower the chair as you see fit until your arms form the 90-degree angle position.

Chair backrest

To get this measure right, you need to sit straight against the backrest. Then form a fist, place this fist behind your calf and in front of the chair edge. Your fist should sit comfortably in this space, and if you find that you don’t have the required space, then the chair seat pan is too deep. You can adjust the backrest using the controls of the chair and bring it forward. If the backrest can't move to the desired position, you may have to use a lumbar support pillow or cushion for low back support. 

Chair footrest

You should be able to slide your fingers easily under your thighs at the front edge of the seat pan to reduce back pain on the office chair. This lets you assess the amount of pressure being exerted on your thighs. If the space is too tight, then you have to prop your feet up on a stool. Certain chairs come with an attached footrest so you can put your feet up from time to time. If you are on the taller side and find that there’s more than a finger’s width of space, consider raising your desk. Otherwise, you can extend the height of the chair.