As I’m currently suffering badly from lower back pain and sciatica I need to find another way of working. Does anyone here use a standing desk?

Was thinking of bodging something together this weekend, anything to look out for?

I have an uppy downy desk – hardly ever stand, just forget to do it! If you do stand, you should remember not to fill the void under your desk with things that might get crushed when you decide to lower it again… 😳

someone i know did this with a coffee table on top of his normal desk. his tip was make sure u take a break every hour to sit/ walk around

Colleague with a dodgy back uses one of these .

+1 I was just about to suggest a kneeling chair

A colleague of mine used one of those things. It was a poncey expensive wooden one. There was much hilarity in the office one morning when there was a sudden almighty CRACK, followed by a scream, as it snapped in half and trapped him in the remnants 😆

EDIT: Not that I’m laughing at people with bad backs. He didn’t have one. He was just a keraaaaaaaazy American who liked to be different

i’d love one of the proper uppy/downy desks but they’re not cheap!

I think the first stage might be piles of bricks under the desk legs and see how that goes.

loads of tips on boing-boing about standing desks.

Standing desk tips

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-2170174688585464%3Ad58nno-rqp8&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=standing+desk&sa.x=0&sa.y=0&sa=SEARCH&siteurl=http%3A%2F%2Fboingboing.net&siteurl=www.boingboing.net%2F&ref=#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=standing%20desk&gsc.page=1

The boing boing thing was interesting. Hadn’t thought about a ‘foot rest’ before – for when stood up. I get just as uncomfortable standing after a while as sitting. My issue is arthritis rather than a ‘bad back’ though.

I thought that standing still for long periods was not at all what we’re designed for…

watch out with the kneely chairs – they put a lot of stress through your knees – a working days worth might be quite a lot and affect your cycling. If I go for a run after a day working on one I can feel it.

You could try a chair that has a kneeling function

http://www.backinaction.co.uk/kneeling#anc_thatsit

so you can vary between kneeling and sitting.

It seems that Stokke have changed their name to Varier, or sold their chair designs to them.

I have a Stokke Duo which is better but they don’t seem to make it anymore.

The Varier Gravity also had a kneeling position but it actually wasn’t very good – the Duo is spot on like a decent kneeling stool.

http://www.backinaction.co.uk/gravity

or maybe try a saddle type chair:

http://www.backinaction.co.uk/humantool

or this:

http://www.backinaction.co.uk/salli

I use the steering wheel of my car as a desk. It’s mighty uncomfortable though

I don’t believe a standing desk would help (but I’m no expert) if anything I’d suggest it would exacerbate the issues

I suggest you need to speak to a Occupation Health nurse about a work station assessment or get a consultant in.
They do a good job, you need to listen to their advise, unfortunately most ppl seem to believe they know more than some-one trained in the field…
IIRC off-hand you need a decent chair that give you good support (no stupid [extra]lumbar cushions) allowing your legs to be dangle if possible and a desk than setup to allow you to sit in this position under it. Then have the top of you monitor lever(ish) with the heigth of your eye line, so your not hunched over to look at it. Everything should be positioned on your desk to allow easy access to it, without twisting and stretch to reach item you use all the time

TBH I found the advice I got from my chiropractor about better position whilst sitting (@ a desk) and driving (very easy to slump in the forward in the driving seat), along with core exercise help my issues (similar to yours) in this area immensely. My own issues seem to stem from my own bad posture rather than an underlying issue.

A guy In the office upstairs sits on a Swiss ball.

Actually the best seating position is not what the H&S people will normally recommend, and I have never before heard that letting your legs dangle is a good idea.

H&S will often have you sitting bolt upright, whereas a slightly reclined position with a lumbar support is often better as it spreads the stresses over several parts of your body. Plus if you are slightly reclined it stops you from inadvertently hunching over, which can lead to over-extension of the neck, which is a killer for pain on the bike.

Maybe if an H&S person had to sit at a desk endlessly for 10 hours a day for 20 odd years they would come to same conclusions about seating positions…

But the OP mentions sciatica so obviously needs some sort of, possibly short term, non-standard seating.

OP – you should also investigate piriformis syndrome in case your pain is actually caused by that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piriformis_syndrome

TG H&S is not occupation health, as I say many ppl seem to think they know more than the experts trained in the area 😉
As for my own statements I did preface it with a “IIRC”, and I believe I am correct but then I’m not OH just another IT guy, given some OH overview to help users (not to replace a good OH assessment). Just to extend my lumbar support comment, I was aiming them at extra lumbar cushions, not integrated lumbar support on a good chair.

EDIT: PS: no idea if the sitting up bolt upright is aimed at me.. but if you look at my comments, at no point did I advocate it or suggest OH would advocate it.

Here’s a link to something on the BBC that says the best way to sit…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6187080.stm

There was a more recent study done too that said the same.

Good link from the Yeti…

It would be slightly better if the seat shown on the BBC link also has an adjustable rake on the seat so you can tilt the seat back a little, forming a gentle ‘bucket’ and hence reducing the angle between the thighs and torso and providing support against the ‘sliding’ that this guy mentions on the article:

“As to what is the best angle between thigh and torso when seated, reclining at 135 degrees can make sitting more difficult as there is a tendency to slide off the seat: 120 degrees or less may be better.”

And then you can also add a footrest if needed, and I have a 1/2 McKenzie lumbar role in their to provide a bit more support.

Hag chairs offer good support and adjustability.

I suffer from Sciatica, and have recently been going through some sports physio to relieve it.

Aside from the treatment itself, I’ve been recommended a swiss ball if I can go for it, mainly because it helps on many levels; it’s a great way to strengthen the back and glutes.

Additionally, learning some proper exercises to ‘floss’ the sciatic nerves helps massively to relieve the pain.

ETA: See here for why: http://recoveryourstride.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/flossing-your-nerves-that-tight-muscle.html

thanks for the suggestions guys.

I currently have a good chair with a spring loaded back which is great. I’ve recently switched to a home office (took chair with me) and one only real difference is the height of the desk so i’m going to look at that first.

I have a crazy plan to an uppy/downy desk with timber scissors and sash cord pulleys but it’s going to take a little longer and I really to make a change now. To start with it looks like a small table on top of my desk might be a good start. If I have time over the weekend i’ll try and draw some sketches of my desk idea and you can all see what you think!

EDIT: THe spring loaded back allows me to sit exactly like Yeti’s article describes. Looks lazy but is very comfy.