Purchase of the Month: Ergonomic Office Chair

Dagmar recently invested in an ergonomic office chair that cost more than Judy's first car (which isn't hard) that promises significant relief for her neck problems. Judy soon decided to follow suit. The American side of Twin Translations now has a good, but not top-of-the-line chair, which is much better than the 12-year-old chair (from a garage sale, really!) that she was using before. Judy's hestitation to buy a good chair stems from the fact that while she was working as an in-house translation department manager, she thought she was sitting on a regular run-of-the-mill chair. Turns out it was a $1,000 dollar chair, but it didn't help the neck pain.

Finally, Judy headed to her beloved Costco to buy a Space executive mesh chair for $200. If you are not a Costco member, you can buy it on a variety of office chair websites, for roughly $300. Judy proudly put the thing together herself. No word yet on neck pain relief from either side of the Atlantic, but we will keep you posted!

Any other great chairs that you love? Please share your favorite in the comments section!


9 comments:

Tess Whitty on March 9, 2010 at 10:52 AM said...

I use the Gaiam balance ball chair for part of the day and a regular chair when I get "tired" of the balance ball. Great for my posture.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007VB4NE/ref=asc_df_B0007VB4NE1049586?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=pg-1481-01-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B0007VB4NE

GG on March 10, 2010 at 5:21 AM said...

Don't want to spoil your enthusiasm, but after going through a lot of chairs in my 15-year career (and neck pain),I found out that I needed a high-back chair, in order to support head/neck. Your chair does not look like that (and you're tall!) Furthermore, I lately found out that sitting in a chair is definitely not the best option either. Now I kind of" half sit and half lay", with my head and back resting on an ergonomical "half-chair". The best solution, though, would still be "not working" ;)

Anonymous said...

Why does everybody wonder that they have backache etc. after sitting on a chair for 8, 10, 12 hours?
A very good solution is to change position, i. e.
to change the sitting position as often as possible, to stand up at least every hour, walking around a bit.
But even better is to combine this with alternation between sitting and standing. It's easy to find heigh adjustable desks, and their aren't even expensive. You can easily (electronically) change the heigh of the whole desk with your computer and everything on it and continue your work standing.

I'm still working in a translation office (needless to say that they don't provide those things for their employees), but believe me: as soon as I start my own translation business (I have plans :-) ), the first thing I will buy is such a desk!

Regards,
K.

Judy Jenner and Dagmar Jenner on March 12, 2010 at 8:44 PM said...

Great comments, everyone! Tess: we will have to check out the ball chair, sounds very intriguing.

@GG: you are right, in the long run, Judy will need one with a headrest, similar to Dagy's mega-expensive chair. Wanted to start with something more affordable for now, but it will soon come to that...

@Anonymous: thanks for your comment. Dagy has a height-adjustable desk, and she works standing up quite a bit, but the neck problems persist (sigh). Might look into a treadmill desk like our friend Corinne McKay! Great advice on sitting/standing combo. And yes, we try to take breaks every hour or so and do some stretches, sit-ups, etc. We wish you the best of luck in your transition to entrepreneurship! It's the best thing Judy ever did.

Edwin den Boer on May 8, 2010 at 6:32 AM said...

Nice blog, I just discovered it, hence the late comment.

I'm not sure whether a chair will solve your neck problems. Do you work on a laptop all the time? It's not good for your neck to be looking down at the screen all the time. Maybe you could type on a separate keyboard and buy a special platform to raise the laptop about 10-12 cm (4-5 inches). Some people even recommend that the top of the screen should be on the same level as the top of your head.

I've been working on a simple IKEA chair for ten years without any back problems. Nothing fancy, but it does support my lower back very well. It is worn out now, so I'm looking for another cheap adjustable chair with a low back and no arm rests (they only get in the way).

Your mileage may vary, perhaps a high-back chair would help, since you're taller than me.

Anonymous said...

Hello,

We have the tendency to carry tension on the shoulder and neck area. I would suggest two yoga exercises: Shoulder shrugs and neck rolls.
You can find how to do these exercises at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1n6F68NG7M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eejUu6BpHhs

I hope you all fell better !

V.Clayton

J. Cannon on June 3, 2014 at 3:21 AM said...

For $200, you could have bought a high back mesh chair instead like the Lorell Executive High-Back Chair. It would be more comfortable as well as for your back.

Jhonty on November 25, 2015 at 4:26 AM said...

If one have a budget of 200 dollars then Boss Black chair is another good option.
I have also tried Aeron and Lorell Executive chairs.Both are also good options.

David on January 31, 2019 at 1:53 AM said...

Nice chair... But If you were having $200 budget then you could have found some other chair much better than this.

Moreover, Amazon has some great chairs listed under this budget. Either way, I'm happy for you and congrats for this chair.

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