I’ve had a rocking kneeling chair for the last 2 years that did work well, but not anymore that I have more or less permanent nerve damage down my left leg. Now it’s excruciating to sit on.
prior to that I’d used the definitive recommendation of the Herman miller aeron. Which I gave to my wife after a few months, as it was just the most uncomfortable thing I’d ever sat on to work.
i have a sit stand desk.
whats the STW recommendations ?
I’ve looked and there’s the usual Amazon suspects that may, or may not be any good, flexi spot, Herman miller, Steelcase, hag, etc etc. and probably another hundred options.
unfortunately I also can’t get out to try many. Which is a total pain.
I've had terrible back issues and sciatica since breaking a hip 18 m ago and use a gym ball as a home office chair. It encourages good posture and allows me to move about, which helps. In the couple of days I do go to the office a week, my decent chair kills me! Worth a try as a cheap alternative.
Bigdugsbaws - might be worth trying a wobble cushion for your office chair?
I’m a big fan of my humanscale diffrient world
I’ve got a Humanscale Freedom Headrest
I find it incredibly comfortable, I can spend hours sat working at the PC
I've had terrible back issues and sciatica since breaking a hip 18 m ago and use a gym ball as a home office chair. It encourages good posture and allows me to move about, which helps. In the couple of days I do go to the office a week, my decent chair kills me! Worth a try as a cheap alternative.
Already tried that, and yes the chair in the office, no matter what I do on adjustments, is a total pain.
What did you find uncomfortable about the Aeron? Knowing where it didn’t work for you might help with suggestions.
What did you find uncomfortable about the Aeron? Knowing where it didn’t work for you might help with suggestions.
the seat never felt comfortable and supportive. Overall it just didn’t provide the support I needed and I was always in pain after a short period of time.
Do you have any doctor/physio support for the nerve damage. I also have a Humanscale chair and rate it but I expect in your case its going to need someone who either has similar damage or supports those who do have to give useful advice.
A variant on that approach, depending on how large/well set up the company you work for is, is to go to HR and raise concerns about the office chair. Be hard for a SME but a large business would hopefully have some experts available to sort out a proper office chair and then copy and paste for home.
What did you find uncomfortable about the Aeron? Knowing where it didn’t work for you might help with suggestions.
the seat never felt comfortable and supportive. Overall it just didn’t provide the support I needed and I was always in pain after a short period of time.
but where? I’ve found aerons can give pressure at the sides of your butt, front edge of seat and not enough lumbar. Knowing exactly where you found that uncomfortable might tip towards, eg, chairs with wider or deeper bases or more back support.
What did you find uncomfortable about the Aeron? Knowing where it didn’t work for you might help with suggestions.
the seat never felt comfortable and supportive. Overall it just didn’t provide the support I needed and I was always in pain after a short period of time.
but where? I’ve found aerons can give pressure at the sides of your butt, front edge of seat and not enough lumbar. Knowing exactly where you found that uncomfortable might tip towards, eg, chairs with wider or deeper bases or more back support.
Just sat on it again for a wee while. Either side of the thighs where the seat curves up at each edge. The front edge of the seat is uncomfortable. The lumbar just wasn’t enough for me, maybe I need more pronounced lumbar support, the aeron lumbar doesn’t get into my back. I think the aeron base is somehow too wide (I have the right size model here) and ended up being uncomfortable after relatively short periods. Coupled with the lumbar not really being in the right place for me, me at it’s just uncomfortable all round. I don’t know how people use it and rave about it !
i do know the aeron has really put me off looking at chairs with a mesh seat.
Do you have any doctor/physio support for the nerve damage. I also have a Humanscale chair and rate it but I expect in your case its going to need someone who either has similar damage or supports those who do have to give useful advice.
A variant on that approach, depending on how large/well set up the company you work for is, is to go to HR and raise concerns about the office chair. Be hard for a SME but a large business would hopefully have some experts available to sort out a proper office chair and then copy and paste for home.
full consultant support, physio support, etc.
today I realised I don’t have the knowledge or capability to sort this, if it can even be sorted. So a quick call to a colleague in a team who do all the office stuff, including H&S etc, lovely guys but I’ve always steered clear of this avenue, but yes they would love to help and genuinely interested in what they can do to support. So few hoops to jump through and I’ll go to the office supplier showroom and with our in house ergonomic person and another expert see what can be done.
obviously the chair isn’t the whole answer, movement, sit stand etc.
well the office warehouse refused to even let me try out any chairs without a full occupational health report. So back to the drawing board. Trying to find somewhere to try a few out, but there aren’t many places. All online.
Any STWers got and use a humanscale freedom ?
or this new libernovo omni chair ?
or the almost super hard to get in the uk the anthros chair ?
Hello,
I've got a HAG Capisco which I find fantastic for keeping my back/posture straight. I also have a sit/stand desk so it has a longer travel gas strut which allows all of the sit/stand/lean options.
If you're near a Back-in-Action (they have three stores I think) then you can go and try their entire range (AFAIR) - they were really helpful when I went in 5 so years ago.
Good luck with your hunt.
Hello,
I've got a HAG Capisco which I find fantastic for keeping my back/posture straight. I also have a sit/stand desk so it has a longer travel gas strut which allows all of the sit/stand/lean options.
If you're near a Back-in-Action (they have three stores I think) then you can go and try their entire range (AFAIR) - they were really helpful when I went in 5 so years ago.
Good luck with your hunt.
one of these ? With the classic droughts a base ? Hadn’t considered one of these.
I’ve tried to add an image of the hag capisco with the draughtsman base, but the my media control and add to post doesn’t seem to work.
Yeah, that's the one. By draughtsman's base do you mean foot rest/foot ring? - as I have one of those - it's ace for when seated and for putting one's foot on when leaning. A couple of people I've recommended it to have gone to try one and both have purchased one. However they spend most of their day's sat.
Hope that's useful.
Just sat on it again for a wee while. Either side of the thighs where the seat curves up at each edge. The front edge of the seat is uncomfortable. The lumbar just wasn’t enough for me, maybe I need more pronounced lumbar support, the aeron lumbar doesn’t get into my back. I think the aeron base is somehow too wide (I have the right size model here) and ended up being uncomfortable after relatively short periods. Coupled with the lumbar not really being in the right place for me, me at it’s just uncomfortable all round. I don’t know how people use it and rave about it !
i do know the aeron has really put me off looking at chairs with a mesh seat.
Like you I found the plastic 'wings' at the side of the seat uncomfortable after a while and the front edge dug into the back of my thighs. But I still preferred it to most chairs as the mesh meant it was a lot less sweaty.
The Cosm I've got now has mesh that wraps right around at the front and is flatter at the sides. Strangely it has no specfic lumbar support at all but works really well.
I'm not saying it's perfect for you but it definitely suggests to me that the designers were addressing issues people have with the Aeron - it's not a mesh issue in itself but how the mesh was mounted
Any STWers got and use a humanscale freedom ?
Had one of those for a while in an office as well. I wanted to like it, but despite playing with the adjustments a lot I never felt the back offered enough spring support unless it was locked out (lt always felt like it was too easy to tip back). Also, the one I had had seen some use and the stained seat reminded me of the other reason I prefer mesh chairs. That's not an issue if you're getting a new chair that only you are going to use.
HAG CapiscoWe have hundreds of those at work, mostly in the open working areas. They're not bad at all. Some with the foot ring, some without.
I got an IKEA Järvfjället as a stop gap when covid lockdown one started, probably put 750-800 working days in on it in the last 6 years (bought it March 2020). No complaints until the back end of last year, think the padding in the seat cushion is starting to compress. Not bad for 170 quid (yes, i got the absolute cheapest model available).
Have done a few 14-16 hour days as well. Only getting up to eat or use the facilities. No problems with that, other than the 14-16 hours of work...
Yeah, that's the one. By draughtsman's base do you mean foot rest/foot ring? - as I have one of those - it's ace for when seated and for putting one's foot on when leaning. A couple of people I've recommended it to have gone to try one and both have purchased one. However they spend most of their day's sat.
Hope that's useful.
yep that’s what I mean, tried to add a pic, but the STW engine wouldn’t let me post a pic. Trying again.
Any STWers got and use a humanscale freedom ?
Had one of those for a while in an office as well. I wanted to like it, but despite playing with the adjustments a lot I never felt the back offered enough spring support unless it was locked out (lt always felt like it was too easy to tip back). Also, the one I had had seen some use and the stained seat reminded me of the other reason I prefer mesh chairs. That's not an issue if you're getting a new chair that only you are going to use.
I’ve seen this comment for the freedom chair before, put me off as I don’t like my chair at work a hag sofi for this reason until I locked it down, as the tipping back is super uncomfortable and unwelcome. Though I’ve now read you are supposed to lean a little back to ease the pressure?
I thought I'd replied to this already but seemingly not. I've definitely replied on others though.
I've had upper back pain for years, like since the 1990s. I always attributed it to poor posture. On a good day it was uncomfortable, on a bad one it felt like someone had rammed a knife under my shoulder blade. The only thing I found which provided any real (temporary) respite was rock climbing.
Fast forward to 2020, I moved house and set up a home office. I figured I'd treat myself to a decent chair - it's a bit like buying a bed, I'm going to be spending a third of my life in it so it's worth spending a few quid. One long story short later, I'd pretty much settled on a Secret Labs chair. If you watch any degree of YouTube you'll see these things on vlogs everywhere. A mate had one, I went to try it, thought "it's really comfy, but it's too big." Matey goes "yeah, I bought the extra large one." Well then, sold.
Got it all set up and yeah, it's great. But what I wasn't expecting was, the pain I'd carried for 20+ years... went away. In about a fortnight. I've been pain-free for like 5 years. On that basis alone I can't recommend it highly enough, it's a fantastic bit of kit and one of the best "is this too much money?" purchases I've ever made.
I thought I'd replied to this already but seemingly not. I've definitely replied on others though.
I've had upper back pain for years, like since the 1990s. I always attributed it to poor posture. On a good day it was uncomfortable, on a bad one it felt like someone had rammed a knife under my shoulder blade. The only thing I found which provided any real (temporary) respite was rock climbing.
Fast forward to 2020, I moved house and set up a home office. I figured I'd treat myself to a decent chair - it's a bit like buying a bed, I'm going to be spending a third of my life in it so it's worth spending a few quid. One long story short later, I'd pretty much settled on a Secret Labs chair. If you watch any degree of YouTube you'll see these things on vlogs everywhere. A mate had one, I went to try it, thought "it's really comfy, but it's too big." Matey goes "yeah, I bought the extra large one." Well then, sold.
Got it all set up and yeah, it's great. But what I wasn't expecting was, the pain I'd carried for 20+ years... went away. In about a fortnight. I've been pain-free for like 5 years. On that basis alone I can't recommend it highly enough, it's a fantastic bit of kit and one of the best "is this too much money?" purchases I've ever made.
thanks, I have actually tried a friends gaming chair recently, can’t recall the make suspect it’s a secret labs one, the long straight back didn’t work for me - esp at the moment, though I suspect that is more me than the chair as 000’s are happy with it. I’m surprised more like the straight back section.
I did search and look at a couple of older threads here for office chairs and saw this almost makes it as the default STW wfh chair.
Any STWers got and use a humanscale freedom ?
Had one of those for a while in an office as well. I wanted to like it, but despite playing with the adjustments a lot I never felt the back offered enough spring support unless it was locked out (lt always felt like it was too easy to tip back). Also, the one I had had seen some use and the stained seat reminded me of the other reason I prefer mesh chairs. That's not an issue if you're getting a new chair that only you are going to use.
I’ve seen this comment for the freedom chair before, put me off as I don’t like my chair at work a hag sofi for this reason until I locked it down, as the tipping back is super uncomfortable and unwelcome. Though I’ve now read you are supposed to lean a little back to ease the pressure?
I think sitting in a fixed position leads to issues (think about long hours spent in an aircraft or train seat) so some movement is a good thing. The Cosm doesn't lock out and I like the movement, but the balance seems right for me.
Any STWers got and use a humanscale freedom ?
Had one of those for a while in an office as well. I wanted to like it, but despite playing with the adjustments a lot I never felt the back offered enough spring support unless it was locked out (lt always felt like it was too easy to tip back). Also, the one I had had seen some use and the stained seat reminded me of the other reason I prefer mesh chairs. That's not an issue if you're getting a new chair that only you are going to use.
I’ve seen this comment for the freedom chair before, put me off as I don’t like my chair at work a hag sofi for this reason until I locked it down, as the tipping back is super uncomfortable and unwelcome. Though I’ve now read you are supposed to lean a little back to ease the pressure?
I think sitting in a fixed position leads to issues (think about long hours spent in an aircraft or train seat) so some movement is a good thing. The Cosm doesn't lock out and I like the movement, but the balance seems right for me.
I think that’s key for me is the balance of lumbar support but also encouraging movement without losing support - if that makes sense.
and remaining comfortable:) for when I’m not working
thought I’d post an update on this, in case it helps anyone else in a similar position.
Found a super helpful office furniture shop in Guildford (healthy home office), went there and sat on every chair they had, narrowed it down to a RH Mereo, the expensive RH Logic was like a torture device with its bump right where your thoracic - trapezium is. Also tried this amazing chair the corechair elite, where the whole chair moves all the time, which is actually a great sensation (if that’s the right term for it), but it is so different I wasn’t sure about it and the guy there said it’s their marmite chair, gets returned and swapped out more than anything else. I also tried the hag capisco which I didn’t get on with, looks weird and felt weird, also makes me think of a dentists chair.
The shop offers a try before you buy, as in go and work in their showroom (prebook obvs so you’re the only one there) and actually use the chair for an hour. So I did. Used the RH Mereo for an hour, then tried the expensive RH Logic for 15 minutes, then sat on the capisco for 15 minutes. After this I hated the logic, didn’t find the mereo comfortable at all and was bloody surprised that the capisco felt the best and was annoyed I hadn’t given the capisco a good try out. So I went back and used the capisco for an hour and loved it. So I specced one using one of the (many many many) off book colour options that you can use and bought one from the shop, as they had been so amazingly helpful.
key takeaway is sit on the damn things before you buy.