A Good Chair for the Back?

Here is what sitting does to you in plain, simple words. Sitting
for prolonged periods is bad for your health and more so for your back because
when you are seated for hours you will inevitably feel tempted to lean forward
and slowly your abdominal muscles will get stiff as your back muscles get
loose. The consequence of being in this unhealthy position regularly is muscle
imbalance. The muscles in front of your torso will be pulling your spine
forward more than the muscles on your back so you will start to lean back even
when you are not sitting because your muscles have adapted to it. Without you
knowing it, your body will be contorted with your lumbar curve becoming flat
and with enormous pressure building on the lower part of your spine. Now, the question is whether an ergonomic office chair can help correct that and remove the pain.

Ergonomic Chairs

What a good ergonomic office chair will do is to keep your
body in the correct posture. More than anything else, it is what we call the
lumbat support feature that allows an ergonomic chair to help you retain the
natural curvature of your back. Lumbar support is provided by a projection that
is in the lower middle part of a chair’s back part that often looks like an
imitation of human’s lower back. This part has to be substantial and effective.
Especially, if you are getting a mesh chair, it is best to look for one that
has a solid part down there because mesh will not do the job in some cases. The
foolproof way to find the best lumbar support is to sit in the chair for some
time but with some careful observation it is possible to know the right even
just by looking at it.

Now that you have an idea about finding a chair with good
lumbar support, let us discuss how effective it will be in correcting your back
issue. A good chair will reduce the adverse effects of prolonged sitting close
to zero but in most cases, it will not perse act as a remedy to correct your
muscle imbalances. A decent ergonomic chair is the first step to the pain free
back but talking to a doctor and exercise could also be necessary.