What kind of chair would you recommend for someone with back problems?

[Pster]

Dh is looking at chairs that will take the stress off his back. Sitting upright / knees bent causes him the most pain / strain on his lower back. (He just had back surgery 3 wks ago.)

We've been looking at "kneeling chairs" - remember those? Would they really help? He needs something that he can use at work to sit at a desk with computer.

Any ideas?

thanks!

[strider]

I did not do well with it myself. It puts a lot of weight on the knees. My issues with it might have more to do with the arthritis in my knees though. I gave up after two weeks.

I do much better using a large exercise ball as a chair--he might give that a try. I did find, though, that it wasn't quite tall enough for me (I am 5'10") so I put a pillow on top of it. I think there are larger balls than mine available though. Another option I thought of but never actually did would be to put a thick board or "stage" at my desk for the ball to be on--that would raise the ball to be the right height for the desk.

You might try asking a physical therapist this question also. They might know of some nifty resources to try.

Hope he's feeling fit soon.

[Sandra in NC]

We have one and it's very comfortable. You can adjust the angle of the back and raise the leg rest to make it more bed-like than chair-like.

[Pster]

That would be great for home....but.... he needs something for work!

thanks for the thought tho!

[Donna T.]

At www.losethebackpain.com, they sell a seat that you can place in any chair to take pressure off of your spine. I don't have one but I am going to get one asap. It's called the BackJoy.

[Doran]

I started using it speficially to help me with back issues. I think it depends a bit on what kind of back issues he has. As strider suggests, the chair put a lot of stress on my knees and lower legs until I adjusted its position in a way that helped alleviate that. The thing that works best about these chairs is that you pretty much have to keep your back straight because there's nothing there to slouch against. I've found it very helpful to use this chair and am now so accustomed to it that I'm not sure I could easily switch to a traditional chair.

FWIW, we also found ours at a church rummage sale, so it was an inexpensive thing to try. I would recommend trying to borrow one if possible, or look for one used so that if it doesn't work out, you haven't lost much.

Sorry he's having trouble. Back pain is no fun!

Doran

[PrairieAir]

I really liked my kneeling chair at first. Now I'm thinking of getting a regular chair. If I sit in it properly, it does help some. Unfortunately, I am just as prone to bad posture as with a regular chair. Also, I find that sometimes it bothers my knees or messes with the circulation in my legs. Part of that may be that it seems to work it's way downward and I have to readjust the screw so the seat rests higher.

[Karin]

I have a great office chair (but sadly, it's downstairs in front of my desk now) that helps a lot. I need one here. I wouldn't get a kneeling chair because it cuts of circulation at my knees.

[McKay]

The American Chiropractic Association endorses the Ekornes Stressless chair. It has great lumbar support and is very comfortable.

[Julie Smith]

Orson Scott card recommends this chair (http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-i-2008-03-20-175902.112113_Fresh_Chair_Pettigrew_Jumper_Robots. html). He wrote an article (http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-i-2008-03-20-175902.112113_Fresh_Chair_Pettigrew_Jumper_Robots. html)about how much he likes it. I was reading the article just before I saw your post.

[GVA]

As you may remember DH has "failed back" after six surgeries including a doube fusion with a post-surgical infection that damaged his nervous system further.

Work bought him this one: http://www.backfriendly.com/catalog/liberty-mesh-office-chair.html

It's as good as any he's tried (and he's tried them ALL, trust me). He uses it with a tailbone pillow. The kneeling chair was not an option because of the level of neurological problems he has (he has balance problems as well).