This chair is killing me! My back is sore and I don’t have the time to nip down to Manama to have a look at chairs which could replace it. I’ve had to use this one for a couple of weeks as my “executive” office chair gave up the ghost recently after being put to use (and support it my increased weight!) for something like 6 years…
Do you guys have any idea what I should get, how much or at least where from? I don’t want to spend a lot of time looking for a replacement, nor spend a lot of money, but something nice and comfortable would be great!
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Mahmood, the chair in your photo does not have the ergonomic design for supporting the lumbar area of your back. Until you buy a new chair, try a small pillow to place against the small of your back when sitting.
With decades of personally experiencing a bad back, may I make a comment and then suggest a few tips that help?:
1. The human body is not designed to be walking upright yet, hence the chronic bad back pain for so much of humanity. Someone should have told Homo erectus that he wasn’t supposed to be walking upright, but the upright view of his female was so fantastic that he wouldn’t have listened to a caution, anyway.
2. Do sit-ups. Because our design is for walking on knuckles, our upright back is supported by the abdominals. This is such boring advice I hesitate to make it, but medically…situps do help.
3. Never stand with both knees locked. ALWAYS stand with one knee slightly bent. Develop this stance to be a regular habit.
4. Use cold on a bad back, not heat.
5. A wonderful help until the back is no longer painful is to sleep with a pillow under the knees. Again, the break in the knees relieves an immense amount of pressure that we uprights place upon our spines.
6. Leg raises help too, but they are are even more boring than situps.
7. Have the wife or kids hold the feet while doing situps. They’ll make it fun, instead of boring. If the kids are already asleep when your wife is holding you feet, well, as an upright man…you’ll know what to do, bad back and all!
“The Aeron chair – the ultimate business driving seat”
We have them at work– lousy air conditioning, asbestos (probably), but at least the chairs are nice.
They’re from Herman Miller design– probably of Kraut technology!
You see them used in all of Hollywood’s high-tech shows, but the important thing is that they are supremely comfortable and let the air flow! 😉
They’re also a bit on the pricey side, so I’ll just think about them at home.
You have a great web site– get one of these chairs so you can continue without pain!
Mick
If you are in pain now, the only thing which might work to alleviate it immediately is to have a deep-tissue massage. Last time I did not sleep for two days (travelling, as usual), came home and had a 1 hour massage session after which the pain was completely gone.
It did hurt though (I think these people are trained by making holes in concrete using their thumbs), but it was worth it. Same for my mouse arm btw.
Mahmood, be carefull with this type of questions, you are opening a can of worms here with people of my age ……
Of all the chairs I’ve ever tried, the best have been purchased from Universal Enterprises.
That might be of help.
How funny – that looks a lot like the Evil Chair I had in my study until two days ago, when I replaced it with a superdeluxe ultracomfy swivelling marvel of a chair, with adjustable back supports, recliner buttons and automatic pizza delivery (ok, I made up that last part). My new chair is a “High Mesh Back Executive Chair”, available from http://www.dpauk.net
Mahmood
Whatever you do chair wise do it soon! You don’t want to wind up like me with a seriously bad back. Nothing is worse than back pain. Ice is your friend. Especially when blended with your favorite amber colored beverage!
Try a pillow placed between your back and the back of the chair. Sometimes it helps.
u can have mine if u want!
Mahmood,
I can second a Duoist’s advice: situps, sleeping with a pillow under knees, and placing a pillow against the small of the back when sitting on nasty chair. These things all helped me (I used to work in a Special Needs School, and we had training on how to avoid back pain).
All the above suggestions (including the Aeron chair!) are excellent — and might I add one more.
Walk. & walk, and walk. Particularly up hill. It makes a huge, huge difference. But don’t forget to stretch also!
Mahmood,
I use one of these, and I find it very comfortable. Not cheap though:
http://www.sit4less.com/aeronchairs/aeron_basic.php
Jared
“Do you guys have any idea what I should get …? ”
Walking shoes and a crate of Slimfast would do it.
Scott
Mahmood,
Get a Swiss Ball.
I am also a personal trainer and I highly recommend it to my clients.
I hope your back gets well soon. We need you in front of that computer!!!
Cheers
Batzi
The chair I use is meant to help the lazy get their exercise. Do your exercise while you sit!
In Hebrew it is often referred to as a “knee chair”. It has no back support and no arms rest. Only two plates – one, slanted, to sit on, and another, slanted to the opposite direction, to place your knees on. The slanting of the upper plate makes sure the lower part of your back is straight, the lower plate is merely there to keep you from falling off it.
This is not an easy chair to sit on. Especially if your back is already hurting, especially if you have not had any exercise of late. I was on a semi forced leave from exercise the past few months, and I need to re-adjust to this chair all over agin. HOWEVER, if you do sit a half hour the first day, and an hour the second, you will find that your back and those same abdominals mentioned above. Slowly your posture will improve, and the back problem may also disappear (depends on its original reason).
The down sides are these:
I heard, though I don’t know if it’s true, that women should not use such a chair, as it puts pressure on the womb.
A friend complained that the chair simply made him slouch, rather than improve his musles. I cannot attest for sure one way or the other, because I was doing exercise at the time I switched to this chair.
You MUST find out what is the cause of your back problems prior to sitting on it. It may make matters worst rather than better for some types of problems.
Duoist
4. Use cold on a bad back, not heat.
That really depends on whether the problems are musle or spine related. Heat does help musle problems, but is bad for spine.
6. Leg raises help too, but they are are even more boring than situps.
do static leg raises. It’s easier to get to the effective working stage of the exercise. If you support your lower back with your hands and lift your legs for one minute every day, you will get quite reasonable musles in just a few weeks.
Hope it helps
Shachar
Hi Mahmood,
Definatly a Aeon Chair by Herman Miller.
They cost about BD 300. But if you take that price against all the treatments that you will need for your back in the future it’s well worth the price.
The agents in Bahrain are Universal Enterprises just off Exibition Road.
Buy one you wont regret it. It also comes in 2 Sizes, Go for the bigger one.
Its more comfortable.
I know BD 300 seems expensive but depriciate it over 5 years i.e. BD 60 per year.
Enjoy.
Wow, thank you all for your valuable advice. I’ll call Universal Enterprises tomorrow or go hit Raed on the head to give me a good discount! 😉
I agree with all of you regarding the exercise, since my dad passed away, rest his soul, I’ve not gone to the gym nor did any walking. Frances and I used to regularly walk about 6km every morning except for the weekend, and I swear I’ve put on at least an inch in the last month.
Shachar, I know the chair you’re talking about, my best friend (who is a Palestinian originally from Nablus! What is it with you in that area and this chair?) has one and swears by it. I tried it a couple of times in his office and decided against buying one.
Thanks again!
>The human body is not designed to be walking upright yet..
Are you serious?
Mahmood,
I suffer from back pain ever since I started pulling Gs in tactical aircraft years ago. My advice is to go to your doctor and ask for muscle relaxants. They’re prescription but not narcotics nor harmful. Take one before you go to bed and it will tip you over to sleep and you will wake up like you spent two weeks in a hot tub.
I agree with the previous poster that walking soothes a painful back but you have to do four or five miles. Running/jogging does not help. Sitting and babying your back will make it worse. You have to move.
I don’t like those short backed chairs like you have and which are common office fixtures. They’re torture devices. I bought a tall back chair at an office supply store for a hundred bucks. It’s cheap but perfect.
You might also want to elevate your chair so that you don’t have to reach up or hunch over for your hands to hit the keyboard. An awkward posture can kill your back and shoulders. It got me.
Steve
You didn’t tell us which part of your back is hurting.
My guess is that the chair is contributing, but the real culprit is how you are sitting. Simply, you should be sitting upright, thights parallel to the floor, knees bent at a 90 degree angle, feet on the floor. Your chair should be high enough and your keyboard low enough so your elbows are bent at a 90 degree angle. Your monitor should be at eye level or slightly above.
If you are working on a laptop on the desk – that’s the kiss of death (at least for my back). If you are, you must get a keyboard, keyboard tray, and monitor (or one of those laptop stands that raises and pivots your screen to mimic a monitor).
By the way, you don’t need an Aeron chair. They are nice, but there are plenty of good chairs out there that are not nearly as expensive. Here’s a good, quick guide on how to pick one: http://www.ehow.com/how_109001_buy-ergonomic-desk.html
Nonetheless, the most expensive chair in the world won’t help you if you are sitting incorrectly.
Hope you feel better soon!
p.s. I completely agree with the person that suggested a deep tissue massage. It might make it feel worse for a day or two, but they do wonders in the long run. Just make sure you drink plenty of water after.
Lisa, thanks a lot for your advice. I unfortunately have committed all the sins you are warning against:
1. I use a laptop at work.
2. I sit slouched down somewhat like a hunchback.
3. I cross my feet at the ankles, sometimes placing them on the chair’s legs.
4. I am overweight.
5. It is my lower back as well as the middle back that hurts.
I’ll have a look at the howto and think that unfortunately I have to go personally to a few office furniture shops to select a good chair.
Isn’t Universal Enterprises the company that James Bond works for?
Items 1-3 are easy to correct with an external keyboard and screen, and a good chair.
I am afraid it is number 4 which is the most challenging, good luck with that one!
BTW, as you are close to the Aloshra supermarket at the Saar roundabout: they have a really good salad bar with a good choice of fruit and vegies and other items you can add to the mix, so you can vary your menu (best choice is early in the day, some items go fast).
Good idea Joop! Thanks, I really didn’t think of that. Time to bid the rice goodbye I think 😉
Mahmood,
I had the exact symptoms a few months ago and did nothing about it until it reached to the extent that I couldn’t move out of bed.
After visiting Dr. Mohd Salims sports clinic and going through a weeks sessions of physio therapy, I became much better but have been told that I should always keep a pillow underneath my legs when sleeping on my back and one between my legs if I am sleeping on my side and always have a cushion behind my lower back when sitting upright.
Best of luck!
Thanks Grace. I’ll keep that in mind. It’s high time I actually spent some time and energy taking care of myself.
I just remembered. I had back trouble a while back
and it was due to me being a lazy slob. At the gym
they had a Roman Chair. You know, the one where
you rest your hips on this pad, hook your legs under
a bar so you are face down and horizontal, and
then lower your upper body toward the floor and
then raise it again to the horizontal position. This
strengthened my back muscles and solved my
problem. Is that a good way to go, do you think?
Scott
Mahmood,
Are you having any tingles, throbs and sharp pain down your legs? Or is the problem just a sore and stiff back?
The tingles and throbs are a sign the nerve(s) are aggravated most likely by one of you discs being bulged. If this is the case then you need to see a doctor and get an MRI done. I can literally quote Pres. Clinton and say “I feel your pain”. I hope the pain ends and the faster the better.
ciao!
m
It’s not that big a deal really, it’s just this stupid chair, I’m sure of it as I’ve not suffered any back pain like this since I started using it.
Back pain is weird like that. Years with no problems, then all of a sudden you do something different (like use the wrong chair) and you’re plagued for life. I never had problems until one of those sprinkler covers in the ceilings of office buildings fell on my shoulder. Now, whenever I get lazy and sit incorrectly for a few days or use a laptop on a desk for more than an hour, the pain comes back excruciatingly. The fun of getting older!
As for the weight, try looking at your diet as 100 bad habits, not one, and work on one bad habit at a time. For example, work on the rice for a few weeks – cut it in half for a few weeks until you get used to that, then cut it again for a few more, once that becomes easy go on to the next bad habit. You can’t find religion overnight! (I lost 60 pounds permanently this way.)
Lisa:
PING! (that is the light going on in my head!)
Lisa, this is the best advice I have received for a long time! I never thought of it like that. Brilliant. This really resonates with me and I shall take what you said to heart and start immediately. Thanks ever so much.
A friend also told me recently, when I cheekily asked him how he lost his weight, that all he did is cut his food in half and walk about 3kms a day, every day except for Friday and be consistent about it and make the time no matter what happens. I took his advice, but didn’t think that it was enough… now coupling what he said and what you said I understand, finally, HOW (not what) I have to go about it.
Thanks again.
You’re very welcome. My motto is “everything in moderation including moderation.” I eat everything I want, just not everyday and not in big portions (well, except for an occasional super splurge). One of my big problems used to be bread at restaurants. I made the rule that I could only eat one piece. Once I got used to that, I started working on only eating bread if it was good. I can’t believe how much disgusting, dry, tasteless bread I used to eat! Another big problem was french fries. Now I just have them every 3 weeks or so. Of course, now they have those really good frozen french fries that you can bake and taste very close to the real thing.
Your friend is right about the walking, though. When I moved to a walking city and started walking about 2 miles a day, I lost weight within a month without even thinking about it.
for your size…i think we need a bouncy castle 🙂
man, you would never believe how much I have to hold myself back when I see one of those… do you know how much FUN bouncy castles are? 😆
You deserve something like this, this, this or this.
I got my two years son this chair and he is very happy.
But seriously, I think you need an inflatable chair, or check Isa Town market and you may find a nice chair.
Well, it seems you also have to be carefull with these things:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006340094,00.html
OK, this one is a bit bigger than normal, but still….
Walk – it’s best for weight and for hart and for back. You can walk every day to your office – if you come by car – just park it far away.
http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060502_walk_health.html
Back pains are sometimes “phantom” pains coming from your feet; make sure you have good shoes.
Look for agronomic sitting near computer. It don’t have to cost much, just adjust the angels right.
Don’t sit so much time, every hour or so, do 5-10 minutes of stand and walk session.
Universal furniture in exhibition…i bought i beautiful (and affordable) deskset from them not too long ago
Arguably the best chairs in the world. http://www.kinnarps.com/v3/englishmaster_v2.nsf
DJ