Sitting and working long hours at a desk may be normal and even necessary for your job, but unless you are using the right chair, it could be dangerous for your long-term health. Ordinary office chairs are designed cheaply without any thought to comfort, and using them for sustained periods of time can lead to back pain and sore muscles.
Ergonomic chairs are made to maximize comfort and health and are designed using leading-edge scientific research. Compared with ordinary office chairs, ergonomic chairs can be expensive. While good chairs can be found for $100-$200, most range from $200-$800, but some can go as high as $2000. Purchasing the best budget ergonomic chair might not be easy and you may end up spending more than you like but when you look at the benefits of ergonomic chairs over regular chairs and consider the long-term costs, buying an ergonomic chair is worth the investment for several reasons.
Health Benefits
Humans aren’t meant to sit for more than several hours a day, and sitting at a desk day after day can be physically tiresome and mentally draining. Ergonomic chairs make sitting more comfortable and even enjoyable, allowing for easy movement and flexibility.
Though it might take some time for you to feel the results, ergonomic chairs improve posture and back health since they offer ideal lumber support through their curved backrest, a feature that mimics the natural movement of the spine. Improper posture while sitting or using a straight backrest can damage the spine and lead to chronic pain, so using an ordinary office chair could end up being more expensive in the long-run when you calculate costs of physical therapy and potentially even surgery.
In addition to the physical benefits, comfort while working and good posture enhances mental health and fosters a more positive, productive working environment that will increase efficiency and enable for higher-quality results. Thus, while the initial cost of an ergonomic chair may seem pricey, it is a small cost compared to the hours of work wasted by improper posture and discomfort.
Lasting Furniture
Since ergonomic chairs are of much higher quality than ordinary office chairs, they are made of sturdier materials that are less likely to break and will not wear down as quickly as other chairs, which will probably need to be replaced every few years, meaning you might end up spending more money than you would if you’d invested in a higher-quality chair, which shouldn’t need to be replaced for a long time, if ever.
Warranties
Most cheaper office chairs won’t have warranties, and if anything happens to them, you’ll end up spending more money than you would on an ergonomic chair with a good warranty plan, which high-quality ergonomic chairs will come with. The best manufacturers offer lifetime warranties, but most offer warranties for 5 to 10 years. The warranty offers can differ and often have quite a bit of fine print, so make sure you read the information closely before choosing which plan you want to buy.
Individualization
Everyone’s bodies are different, and everyone has different needs and preferences. Cheap office chairs are standardized, meaning they give you little choice in how you work. Ergonomic chairs allow you to adjust multiple features, including but not limited to height and seat depth, giving you the flexibility you need to work effectively. If the office space is going to be used by multiple people, an ergonomic chair allows for the most flexibility since each user can adjust the chair to meet his or her needs.
A Good Investment
Depending on your work schedule, you might spend more hours on average a day in your office chair than in your bed, so you should think about buying an ergonomic chair as carefully as you would a new mattress. While it may seem like an extravagance, ergonomic chairs are an investment worthy of your time and money, and once you experience the benefits an ergonomic chair has to offer, you’ll never go back to using a regular office chair again.
