The Perfect Chair for Low Back Pain

Reported February 2008

HOLLAND, Mich. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Back pain sufferers may finally get some relief, especially during long work days. Now, there's a new office chair that compliments your desk and your body.

For many people, another day at the office means hours of sitting, sitting and more sitting. And all that sit-down time can take a toll on a body, and one of the biggest causes of pain … your chair!

"One of the biggest common things when people are sitting is experiencing low back pain," ergonomist Teresa Bellingar, Ph.D., told Ivanhoe.

Now, ergonomists have a new chair, called Zody -- it's a high-tech place to sit with a unique feature -- handles adjust on the chair on either the right or left sides of the lumbar area, or low back area, for a customized fit.

"So one of the things when you're looking at incorporating adjusments in a chair is trying to find the appropriate lumbar support … so that people don't experience as much low back pain when they're sitting," Dr. Bellingar said.

To design the chair, researchers study how volunteers sit while doing a task. Then while adjusting supports on the low back, pressure points are mapped out to show individual needs of back support.

"One of the things that we found, that actually surprised us in the study, was that 74-percent of the people in the study … wanted asymmetrical support in the lower back, meaning they wanted more support on either their left or their right side," Dr. Bellingar said.

Adjusting a chair for a perfect fit is a key factor in successful seating -- helping the chair to become a popular office need. Science helps makes a seat that no one wants to give up.

The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Angela Luedke
Public Affairs
Haworth, Inc.
(616) 393-1614
angela.luedke@haworth.com

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Santa Monica, CA 90406
(310) 394-1811
http://www.hfes.org

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Back pain sufferers may finally get some relief, especially during long work days. Now, there's a new office chair that compliments your desk and your body.