4 Reasons To Use An Ergonomic Chair In Your Office

If you conduct a lot of your day-to-day work sitting at a desk, you should know that you might be causing yourself damage. A sedentary lifestyle like this can cause plenty of physical damage including obesity, heart disease, blood clots, and diabetes. Getting up and walking around at least every hour is crucial, and ensuring that you get plenty of exercise when you’re not working is also very important and will help to counteract the issues that sitting for many hours a day is going to cause.

Something else that you’ll need to take into consideration is that your spine could become damaged when you’re sitting in a chair that isn’t designed to support the body. When your spine is damaged or becomes misaligned, this can cause pain in the back, neck, shoulders, hips, arms, wrists, knees, and even the ankles. It can, in the worst cases, mean that your mobility is reduced too. If you’re already suffering from this kind of pain then speaking to the experts at ispine.com.au is a wise move; they will be able to guide you to the next steps.

Switching your current office chair for an ergonomic version is the best way to prevent this damage from happening in the first place, however. An ergonomic chair is one that is designed specifically to support the body in the right way so that, even if you do find you’re sitting for a long time, you won’t develop any spinal conditions or pain because you’re using the right kind of chair. Read on to find out exactly why an ergonomic chair is the best choice for your office.

Photo by Uneebo Office Design on Unsplash

More Comfortable

An ergonomically designed office chair is always going to be more comfortable than a standard chair due to the way it is designed. A cheap office chair that you can pick up online, or even a chair that was never designed to be sat on for long periods at a time (a kitchen stool or dining chair are prime examples) can be problematic and, by the time you’re done for the day, you might find it hard to stand up and move around. You’ll almost certainly ache at the very least.

If you can find an ergonomic chair that is comfortable for you, you’ll feel much better when you’re working and you’ll no longer have to use something that wasn’t designed for the job you’re making it do, whether that’s a dining chair, an armchair, or even your bed.

Better Productivity

After reading the above information, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you to find that having an ergonomic chair in your office instead of anything else is going to lead to better productivity. The longer you can sit in your chair, the more work you can do. The more comfortable you are in your chair, the more you can concentrate on what you’re doing. While still taking the breaks you need to ensure your circulation isn’t compromised, when you have an ergonomic chair you can get a lot more done than if you’re sitting in something less supporting and comfortable.

Something else that will make you more productive is the way you are sitting. An ergonomic chair will help you to sit up straighter (especially if you have measured it to your desk properly and are using it at the right height, which is another consideration) and that means better blood flow to the brain, keeping you more awake and alert and able to think more clearly.

Less Pain

Of course, a huge benefit to using an ergonomic office chair rather than a standard one, or – perhaps worse – something that was never designed to be used as an office chair at all is that you will be in less pain. If you’ve noticed a twinge in your back or your shoulders and hips feel stiff, or you’re experiencing any kind of mild pain at all, it could be to do with the way your spine is unsupported for all those hours you’re sitting in your non-ergonomic chair. Think about exactly how you’re sitting; if you’re hunched over or slouched, if you’re at an unusual angle, or if the chair doesn’t match the height of your desk, it’s going to make you hurt. Over time, this pain will only become worse, as you’ll be exacerbating every time you sit down.

If you don’t want to be in pain, you should switch your chair for an ergonomic one. The difference will be immediate, but if you do still feel pain then you may need to seek specialist help as we mentioned above since the damage may already have been done. Once you’re healed, though, and treatment has been given, your ergonomic chair will prevent the damage from occurring again. This is especially important if you have had treatment as your spine may be weaker than it once was.

A Good Return On Investment

Ergonomic chairs are more expensive than standard ones. After all, a lot of design work and research has gone into these special chairs, and that has to be reflected in the cost. Not only that, but ergonomic chairs are often made of better, more robust materials than a standard chair would be.

However, this price should be looked at as an investment rather than a cost. This is because when you’re using an ergonomic chair you’re using it correctly. This means that there is less chance of damaging it or breaking it, and because you’ll be more comfortable you won’t be moving around and fidgeting so much which can also cause damage and wear. Therefore, the ergonomic chair is going to last longer (plus the better materials will give it a longer life too).

On top of that, the more productive you are and the better quality of work you produce due to being more comfortable and not suffering from any pain means that you can increase your work output. If you work for someone else this can help you gain a promotion or bonus. If you work for yourself it means you can charge more or you can fit more jobs in during the day. Either way, you’ll be making more money.