the best office chair

[JaneOConnor]

Hi All, I'm after a little advise please/help. Can anyone recommend a 'good' adjustable and comfortable office chair? One that is very adjustable so I can get myself comfortable (I spend all day sitting/with breaks of course).

[AgedCrone]

That is a very subjective need…why don,t you ask an Occupational Therapist to give you some advice ?

It really does depend on height/weight & any specific physical needs you have.

But one thing to be very sure of…..is make absolutely sure it really is comfortable - before you splash out buying it.

[Madmusiclover]

if it’s for work then they should provide an assessment for you.

[Fruitandnutcase]

You would need to try it for yourself. I bought my husband a new office chair for his birthday last year. Basically it’s an affordable version of those Herman Millar chairs you can buy.

We went to a place who sell office equipment. Well, I thought you just had to go and sit on them and try them but nope. What an experience it was. It involved asking about husbands height, weight, how long he used it in the day, what he did when he was working at his desk, the height of his desk, the surface of the floor, did he want arms on the chair (that’s where the height of the desk came in) to name but a few of the questions. Just when I thought we were there - up popped another question.

Once I realised it wasn’t going to be as straightforward as I thought it would be I found it quite funny - it reminded me of the scene in Love Actually where Rowan Atkinson is working on the perfume counter, wrapping a gift Alan Rickman was trying to buy for his lover without his wife finding out.

The whole process went on and on but in the end he now has a very comfortable chair. So be sure to try out any chair you are thinking about and I would probably say go to a shop that specialises in office equipment if you can. Seems you don’t just pick a colour you like with a mesh back!

[Lolabridge]

An assessment by an OT is a very good idea and you may wish to also consider a desk on which the surface rises and lowers so you can use it standing or sitting. My daughter finds such a desk invaluable as she has a bad back and works from home at her desk all day.

[oldtimer]

Have a look at the recent reviews in Which. They test them out well and you should be able to work out which would suit you best.

[cyberbarn]

We are going down the OT route with my son who has a slightly different problem to arthritis. I have had a couple of triage calls and both OTs were enthusiastic about having a face to face meeting with my son at home. They both talked about different types of solutions on the phone but said with seating it really needs to be face to face.

So give OT a try. NHS OTs are self referral in many places now, but the councils also have OTs. And if you are working then occupational health should have someone that can advise too.

As for office chairs, I sit on a ergonomic dining room chair at a large 1950s oak civil service type desk, that I once traded a load of Cotswold building stone for. I have never ever got along with these fancy 'office' chairs on wheels with backs on them. In fact when I am studying outside or in other parts of the house, I just use a stool and a table. I never lean back in my chairs, not even the dining chair. And I find the large expanse of the desk allows me to rest my forearms on it to ease my shoulders and elbows.

It can take a while to find what works for ourselves, but sometimes it helps to think outside the box - or the chair!

[aliplayspiano]

Definitely worth trying a few. I needed a new office chair for work as the reception desk is quite high and the computer screen is large and the office chair I had wouldn’t go high enough. My colleague and I were both given new chairs which were taller and very comfortable, problem was they did not have wheels and as our reception office is narrow we frequently have to squeeze past each other. This is easy when the chair is on wheels but we nearly caused our backs damage lugging the chairs in and out! We ended up reverting to the original chairs and requesting the desk was lowered which was what we thought they would do in the first place!