Aching back spurs search for comfortable seating
Jeff Linville, Staff writer -- Furniture Today, February 1, 2004
Lower back trouble has me re-evaluating how I live and how furniture is designed. I've been seeing a physical therapist for the past month because of back pain. Much of our time has been spent discussing what causes back pain and how I can keep it from returning.
My therapist, Paul, says four out of five adults will have back pain at some point in their lives. For many, it's the result of overexertion. Try to move that Paul Bunyon dresser by yourself and you'll see what I mean.
For others, like myself, the problem is more nagging and chronic. Paul asked me many questions about how I sit, how I stand up, what my desk chair is like and what my car seat is like. He had me sit in a straight-back chair and analyzed my posture and my movements.
He said the average person bends at the waist 1,500 times a day. That sounds ridiculously high, but think about every time you stretch for your coffee cup or flex to the side to grab the phone. It adds up.
When the back's not moving, it needs a chance to rest. For the lower back, that means curving in slightly. With the hips and shoulders back, the lumbar region shouldn't touch a straight-back chair.
Maintaining good posture in a straight chair isn't easy. The shoulders start to slump and the lower back flattens out. To help people out, chairs, car seats and recliners need to provide proper support.
Armed with this new information, I've been checking out sofas and recliners in friends' homes and in stores to see how they feel. I've discovered that almost every seat I try doesn't suit me.
Most have little or no lumbar support. In the few that did, the outward curve that was supposed to fit my back was too low, hitting just below the waistband of my pants, not the lower back.
Many recliners are made so that people can lie back and still see the television. The foam padding that raises the head up when reclining, however, was too low when I sat up, making my shoulders hunch forward.
Motion sofas seemed like a good idea — I could swing my feet up and so could one of my buddies. But those I tried made my back feel worse than ever. I wasn't sure why, so I asked Paul.
He said motion sofas tend not to recline the seat as far back as recliners, so the user is in a seated position with the legs raised. For most people this isn't a problem, but for someone with a pinched sciatic nerve, raising the legs stretches the nerve and can make it hurt worse.
I know upholstery companies spend a great deal of time on research and development, but comfy chairs aren't always comfortable to those of us with special needs.
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