HISTORY OF THE ERGONOMIC DESK CHAIR
Once the medical communities identified these problems associated with work place injuries from the most mundane activities, ergonomics were born. Ergonomics is the idea of designing work place equipment to fit the worker. In other words instead of fitting the worker into an unnatural position for long periods of time the equipment was made to fit the worker.
The ergonomic office chair has been around since the 1970?s. These office chairs are designed for the person that sits long hours at a desk. They were designed by a Swedish surgeon as a means of offsetting potential back problems.
Occupational health is a huge field that has really taken off. There are entire physician practices that are dedicated to providing medical help for occupational health causes. Many folks think that there are “safe” occupations where there is little danger of being injured. Well there are safer occupations where injury is less likely, but no industry no matter how mundane it may seem is without risks.
Simple activities such as sitting at a desk all day at an office, years ago no one really thought would cause anyone any problems did indeed cause folks all sorts of issues, although those issues were largely not reported they still very much existed.
Believe it or not the belief that sitting for long periods of time does not cause damage to the body is a myth. The body is not meant to sit upright for long periods, as a matter of fact it can cause a host of damages to the body. Sitting upright for long periods hunched over a keyboard is bad for the body. It is also bad for the back and the circulatory system.
No one really gives much thought to how sitting for long periods of time can cause havoc on the body. Most folks would agree if you have a job that requires long periods of sitting to complete your tasks that you have it pretty easy.
Long periods of sitting in a conventional office chair also poses certain risks to your back, circulatory system and joints. There are ways to avoid this potential risk of injury, by alleviating the stress on the body of sitting in certain positions.
Even with the most padded largest executive type office chair there are bound to be some aches and pains associated with prolonged sitting.
It was largely thought that if a person worked in an office environment that they would be safe from any types of injuries. In absence of something falling on them in the office, not much thought was given to potential physical maladies that could actually stem from the environment that they worked in.
Potential Physical Maladies Stemming From Office Work
There are a host of physical maladies that can stem from working in an office environment. The best known and most talked about is carpel tunnel syndrome. The other common problems are back injuries from sitting long periods at a desk and eye strain from staring at a computer screen. There are many ergonomic devices that are made to help relieve the stress and strain of these activities.
The solution to avoiding the common aches, pains and maladies associated with prolonged sitting in an office chair is the ergonomic office chair. It may sound strange but the ergonomic office chair distributes the body weight more evenly and into a forward leaning position which is a much more natural position for the body to be seated in.
When sitting in a conventional chair for an extended period of time the body is forced into an upright unnatural position. This causes an unusual amount of stress and strain on the discs in the spine. An ergonomic desk chair allows the body to sit in a natural position using the natural curve of the body.
It actually goes beyond taking the pressure off your back, it opens up the diaphragm and improves circulation. An ergonomic desk chair at first seems a bit unusual to use, but once the user gets used to sitting this way in a more natural balanced posture they experience more productivity and are generally more comfortable.
How Does An Ergonomic Desk Chair Work?
The ergonomic desk chair provides the user with a way to improve posture and sit in a naturally aligned position. The angles of these chairs are scientifically validated to assist the user with improving posture and relieving the stress and the strain associated with traditional office chairs.
There is a conventional seating area and there is a knee rest area. The user is naturally apt to lean forward when typing or talking on the phone, shifting in the traditional office chair forward and back trying to get comfortable, but in the ergonomic office chair the user can move forward and remain in that position simply by using the knee rest. The user is encouraged by the nature of the design of the knee chair to use their own line of balance which lies somewhere between the ear and the shoulder for the optimum seating arrangement.
Benefits of Using an Ergonomic Desk Chair
The benefits of using an ergonomic desk chair surpasses just relieving the strain on the back and shoulders that one would expect from using this type of seating. It also can be directly linked to improving circulation.
The fact that the hips are not bearing the brunt of the weight opens up the circulation. In addition to the circulatory improvement there is significant improvement in posture and concentration is also improved.
Concentration increases as the circulation is improved. Of course all of these factors increase productivity. A comfortable worker is a happy worker and a happy worker is a more productive worker. The formula is quite simple.
Even the youngest of office workers will benefit from having a ergonomic office chair. The sooner the user starts using the ergonomic desk chair the better off they will be throughout their career. Using the ergonomic office chair will offset the potential for irreversible back problems throughout life.
