Office chair posture and low back pain.

Treating a lot of patients in the New York City area one is exposed to a large amount of postural issues – one aspect is the way we sit at our desks – the point I want to highlight here – and I could mention a few – but this picture really shows it – is the tilt back angle on the chair.

The mechanics of the back are under significant stress with this kind of leaning back – and as the center of gravity moves backwards or posterior there is increase force placed on the lumbar vertebrae.

I notice that patients like to have the chairs flexed back – they in a way are suspended and this position of a “soft flex” in the tilt mechanism results in more low back stress. We must utilize the back of the chair – which is essentially there to reduce the fatigue to your spinal muscles.

Simple solution is to lock the chair in a 90 degree upright position, and lock the tilting mechanism so that the seat-back does not flex – therefore decreasing the stress on the low back.
Steven Barteck PT