How to select an office chair

As most of our work has been reduced to a laptop and office desk, choosing the right chair to sit and work is important for our physical and psychological well-being. As our natural instincts do not align with the working conditions nowadays, it is necessary to take some extra care of ourselves.

There are various types of office chairs available out there. We need to identify our needs and type of work to find the perfect chair for us. For example, the same chair in your conference room might not be optimal for daily office use.

Here are some features to look for in your chair:

•   The backrest must support your upper and lower back, in a way your natural curve of the spine is maintained.
•   The chair must have the ability to adjust the seat height, backrest angle, and armrest height.
•   It is best if there is a supporting headrest that fits your height.
•   Comfortable padding is also important.

Different types of office chairs according to work roles.

Ergonomic chairs

These chairs are the most suitable for long working hours in the office. These chairs are designed to support your whole body while working. Negative effects of sitting for long, like cervical spondylosis, back pain, shoulder pain, poor posture, and blood circulation, etc, can be reduced by using this type of chair. It was invented by William Stumpf in 1976.

This kind of chair comes with lumbar support and adjustable headrest, armrest, and seat height. Thus, it can be customized personally while using it. An adjustable backrest allows users to align the curve in the chair with the curve in the spine.

Drafting chairs

It is created to go with drafting tables and standing desks. drafting chairs allow people who stand while working to sit and rest without interrupting their workflow. The chair is high enough which helps to change a sitting posture to standing posture easily. It assists back, upper limbs, lower limbs and weight of the body.

This type of office chair is light and easy to move. Its adjustable height also allows it to be lowered and be used with conventional desks.

People who need to stand while working or move a lot, for example, artists and architects will find this chair useful.

Executive office chairs

Such chairs are normally costly and they are most often composed of quality materials such as wood and genuine leather or polyurethane leather. It is heavily backed and well padded in the back, seat, and headrest. It also has thickly padded armrests. Sometimes it comes with extra features like recline function and massage head.

Leather office chairs

Leather office chairs are specifically any office chair covered with leather. They appear expensive and classy, since leather is in most cases more costly than other materials. Leather must be well taken care of to avoid having a used effect or even peeling off.

There are several types of leather office chairs:

•  Polyurethane (PU) Leather – PU, or faux, leather does not have any leather parts, but it looks and feels like the real thing. They are the least expensive of the three kinds of leather office chairs and they are typically fade resistant, waterproof, easy to clean and long lasting.
•  Bonded Leather- Bonded leather is a product which has been created by using polyurethane to bond leather by-products. They are less expensive than real leather, and a well-treated one is difficult to distinguish it beside the real one. Bonded leather is however not as durable as genuine leather because it peels off. It also ought not to be subjected to direct sunlight because it might fade and dry.
• Genuine Leather – This is the most expensive out of all the types of leather office chairs. It’s unbeatable when it comes to breathability, comfort, durability, and aesthetics but it’s also the hardest one to maintain. Like bonded leather keep your genuine leather chair away from direct sunlight to avoid fading.

Mesh office chairs

The backrest of these chairs is made with net-like fabric or mesh and are usually thin. This makes them a great choice for people who tends to sweat a lot while working. It is also the best choice for people who work in tropic climates. It has cushioned seats for comfort.

Kneeling chairs

By leaning forward as you sit, stress is decreased from the back while the core is engaged.

The advantages of kneeling chairs are:

•   Helps ease back pain
•   Maintains the standing lumbar curvature better than conventional office chairs
•   Strengthens the core muscles, giving the back more support
•   Prevents lower back stress and spinal compression

A kneeling chair isn’t meant for long-term sitting, however, which may lead to the following issues:

•   Restricted leg movements
•   Cramped leg position limits the circulation of the leg
•   Getting in and out of a kneeling chair is quite difficult

Since kneeling chairs can cause discomfort if used for a long period of time, they shouldn’t be used as a permanent replacement to ergonomic office chairs. Alternate between the two types of chairs to avoid staying in one position for too long.

It is usually used for short term tasks or by people with chronic back pain.

Leaning chairs

Leaning chairs have become a popular accessory with standing desks and in work environments where standing is common, such as banks and retail stores. They provide a way to take short breaks while standing, by supporting your bottom as you lean backward. Also called sit-stand chairs, they are also height-adjustable to allow you to fully sit down for short periods.

 It lets you quickly switch between sitting, leaning, and standing positions. It comes with either an adjustable seat tilt or an articulating pedestal which makes these changes in position possible. The height of the chair can also be adjusted to suit the different heights of its users or complement the height of standing desks.

BIG AND TALL CHAIRS

This type of chair usually has a high weight capacity. This means that everything about the chair is designed to safely handle heavy loads.

This type of chair comes with higher and wider backrests, higher seat height adjustments, thicker padding, wider seats, and reinforced frames, bases, and armrests. It is suitable for tall and heavy weighted people.

Small or petite chairs

Petite chairs have a smaller seat, a small base, and a lower gas lift so that smaller people can rest their feet on the floor.

Even the ergonomic features are tweaked to address the needs of people with a small build. With standard office chairs, petite office workers may find it more difficult to maintain a proper arm alignment because of the higher armrests. A petite chair solves this issue because the height of the armrest is much lower. The same goes for the headrest, lumbar support, and seat height.

24 HOUR CHAIR

As the name suggests, 24 hour chairs are used for working round the clock. It is also known as intensive use chairs. It is designed to be used for long hours of work.

They are different from other office chairs because they undergo rigorous testing and need to pass certain limits before they can be labelled as an intensive-use chair. Some of the tests conducted are for the back tilt, backload, vertical armload, seat and base load test, and swivel bearing fatigue test. they are significantly more durable than other types of office chairs.

It is typically used in work places like hospitals, call centers, control rooms, and police stations where the work exceeds normal timings.

Conference room chairs

These chairs are usually used in a conference room. Thus, it needs to be almost invisible as there are more important things happening. To have a more open area and to not be an obstruction to people’s line of sight, conference room chairs are usually designed with a low or middle level backrest.

Unlike other types of office chairs, many conference chairs promote a forward-leaning posture, by tilting the seat forward slightly. This is to encourage people to participate and contribute to the meeting.

Physical effects of using an improper office chair

Not having physically healthy work conditions can have both short term problems and irreversible problems in the long run.

Bad posture

as an effect of not having proper back support, shoulders might slouch, causing soreness in the back and shoulders and can lead to physical problems like back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, etc.

Effects on digestive system

This is one of the worst things you can do to your health next to sitting all day. Sitting in one position over an extended period of time causes your digestive organs to be compressed and they are therefore not in a condition to perform optimally. This is not good in terms of the digestive process since it is highly slowed down, which may cause discomfort, constipation or slow metabolic conversion.

Varicose veins

Sitting still for long periods of time can lead to the formation of spider veins, particularly in women. The increased pressure of sitting and lack of circulation throughout the body is the reason for this.

Long term problems:

Spinal curvature

One of the issues that might arise due to bad posture is developing a spinal curvature. the human spine has four natural curves that make up an "s" shape. When bad posture is practised, the spine can experience pressure, influencing the spine curves to change their positions slowly. The spine has been designed specifically to absorb shock and maintain the body balance, when there are changes in the spinal position, this ability becomes compromised.

Subluxations

Subluxations occur when the spinal curve is altered, vertebral subluxations are a major problem when the vertebrae become misaligned from the rest of the spine. The overall integrity of the rest of the spinal column is affected eventually causing misalignments leading to chronic health problems including stress and irritation of surrounding spinal nerves.

Blood vessel constriction

The constriction of the blood vessels around the spine can cut off blood supply to the cells of the muscles, which can affect nutrient and oxygen supply. Blood vessel constriction can also raise your chances of clot formation and issues with deep vein thrombosis.

Nerve constrictions

One of the most common side effects of bad posture is nerve constriction. As the spine changes in shape, the resulting movements or subluxations can put pressure on the surrounding spinal nerves. The nerves connected to the spine come from all over the body, and stressed and pinched nerves would cause neck and back pain and pain in unrelated areas of the body.

Stenosis

Stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal. Stenosis can press on the spinal cord and nerves and cause pain and other symptoms. This can cause pain, numbness, weakness, and other problems throughout your body. Common examples include leg or arm pain when problems are related to the lower spine or neck.

Psychological effects of having bad posture while working

Most psychological sufferings leads back to poor posture and physically unfit work environments in the long run. Mental illness is usually not identified and left unattended -not only harming the wellbeing and the career of a person, but also causing a decrease in work productivity. Instead, proper treatment is capable of relieving the symptoms in the employee and enhancing work performance. However, to achieve these goals, there must be an attitude change regarding the concept of mental disorders and the understanding that such a valuable accomplishment does not happen quickly and easily.

Depression

Depression is a widespread mental health disorder and has in the past been best studied in the workplace, mainly because it is common in the general population. Bad posture has been proven to have a negative effect on mood. Those who sit for extended periods of time report higher levels of depression. Those who sit for more than 7 hours per day are at a 47% higher risk of depression than those who sit for 4 hours or less.  

Anxiety

Anxiety disorders in the workplace may manifest as restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and excess worrying. Employees may require constant reassurance about performance. Sometimes, as with depression, physical symptoms or irritability may be noticeable.

Anxiety disorders affect about 6% of the population at some point in life, but typically go undiagnosed for 5 to 10 years. And only about one in three individuals with a diagnosed disorder receives treatment for it. At the same time, the studies suggest that people with anxiety disorders are more likely than others to seek out medical care — but for problems like gastrointestinal distress, sleep disturbances, or heart trouble rather than for anxiety.

It is probably not surprising, then, that anxiety disorders cause significant work impairment. Generalized anxiety disorder, for example, results in work impairment (as measured by sick days and lost productivity) similar to that attributed to major depression.

Attention Deficiency Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is often considered a problem only in childhood, but it also affects adults. An international survey in 10 countries estimated that 3.5% of employees have ADHD. Symptoms of ADHD in the work place can come in the form of being disorganized, missing deadlines, being unable to handle work loads, difficulty in taking instructions form managers, and getting into fights with fellow employees.

Good mental health at work and productivity go hand in hand and there is strong evidence that workplaces with high levels of mental wellbeing are more productive. Addressing wellbeing at work increases productivity by as much as 12%.