The Best Office Chair for Lower Back Pain

It’s typical for office warriors to develop chronic or acute lower back pain from sitting in poorly designed chairs. As an entrepreneur, I was someone who suffered from so much back pain that it made it hard for me to even go to sleep. After spending thousands of dollars on products ranging from expensive pillows, to pills, to workouts, the solution turned out to be as simple as a new office chair. This article will explore what aspects of sitting cause lower back pain, the qualities that the best chairs have, and the best office chair for lower back pain.

Table of Contents

What Causes Lower Back Pain

What Qualities are Needed to Treat Lower Back Pain – Lumbar Support

The Top 5 By Quality, Price & Features

1. Modway Articulate Adjustable Ergonomic Chair
2. Sihoo Ergonomics Mesh Office Chair
3. Komene Sitting Ergonomic Office Chair
4. Herman Miller Sayl Task Chair
5. Herman Miller Mirra 2

Closing Notes & Alternative Solutions

What Causes Lower Back Pain in Office Warriors

Research has shown that not everyone is prone to acute or chronic LBP (Lower Back Pain) – in fact, most people are not bothered by poorly designed chairs. However, there is a special subset of office warriors that are genetically or historically predisposed to suffer from LBP.

According to Cornell University research on lower back support, you put 90% more pressure on your back when you’re sitting than when you’re standing – this additional pressure is responsible for “postural stress”. Placing your back under stress for long periods of time is the cause of acute/chronic lower back pain. 

Most people can tolerate the postural stress that comes with sleeping, driving, and a bit of sitting. But office warriors tack on hours of additional constant postural stress which leads to their acute lower back pain. And since most of us work at desks, standing is not an option, and so the solution is to relieve that lower back pain with a better chair.

What Qualities Do The Best Chairs Have?

The qualities that make up the best office chairs for lower back support fall under the umbrella definition of “ergonomic chairs”. These ergonomic chairs adjust to your body to relieve lower back pain and increase comfort. Unlike most chairs, ergonomic chairs are designed specifically for office warriors and for long periods of sitting.

Ergonomic chair features include:

• Seat height adjustment – gives you the ability to adjust your seat height so that your feet are flat on the floor and your knees are slightly below your hips.
• Backrest height adjustment – gives you the ability to adjust the contours of your backrest to your body.
• Swivel base – Lets you turn the chair while seated
• Back angle adjustment – gives you the ability to tune the chairs angle to properly match what feels comfortable.
• Arm Support – gives you somewhere to rest your arms and the ability to adjust the arm supports.
• 5 spoke wheel base – a minimum of five wheels offers proper weight distribution through the chair and makes it so the chairs last longer.
• Adjustable headrest – chairs actually don’t need to have an adjustable headrest but if they do have one, it needs to be adjustable.

The 5 Best Office Chairs For Lower Back Pain

Ergonomic chairs are the solution to your lower back pain. And the good news is that the best office chair for you can be affordable. They come in a variety of price points and a variety of styles with the most affordable starting at $136 and with more sophisticated ones priced at over $1,000.

This section will explore the 5 best office chairs for lower back pain at a variety of price points, a variety of materials and a variety of styles. If you need more options check Republic Lab’s post on the best office chairs.

1. Herman Miller Mirra 2 Task Chair

The Herman Miller Mira 2 Task Chair is the top chair for lbp and even comes with a 12 year guarantee. This chair carries all the adjustable features of an ergonomic chair, all the features of an eco-friendly product and has a beautiful contemporary design. The most impressive thing about this chair is that every review it receives is perfect which can almost guarantee that you’ll love it. This chair is the highest quality chair designed to support your lower back pain that can be found on the market.

End your lower back pain today and give the Hermen Miller Mirra 2 Desk Chair a chance.

2. Herman Miller Sayl Task Chair

The Herman Miller Sayl Task Chair combines adjustable ergonomics with contemporary design making a formidable contender for title of “best office chair”. This chair offers all the key features of an lower back ergonomic chair, comes in a variety of bold colors, has a unique mesh, and looks incredible. Even if you’re just browsing, it’s incredible to see the beautiful variety of options that this chair offers.

3. Komene Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair

Everything from this price point and forward has one thing in common: near perfect reviews and superb quality. You know that price point when you know things won’t go wrong; the point where you’re past cheap products and onto the high quality ones?

Well, the Komene Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair is the first one to hit that mark. This chair is masterfully crafted for office warriors who need to work for long periods of time and are suffering from lower back pain. This practical mesh chair is designed to offer lower lumber support at an affordable rate. Reviewers love it and you will to.

4. Sihoo Ergonomics Office Chair

At an even more affordable price comes the Sihoo Ergonomics Office Chair. This ergonomic chair is designed for long sitting periods. It’s equipped with every adjustable ergonomic feature which includes the breathable mesh back with lumbar support and height adjustments for every part. If you’re looking to get rid of your lower back pain at an affordable rate then try the Sihoo Ergonomics Office Chair.

5. Modway Articulate Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair

The Modway Articulate Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair is the most affordable office chair for lower back pain. It comes with most of the requirements of an ergonomic chair, a variety of colors and at a reasonable price.

 Can An Adjustable Desk or Standing Desk Help With Lower Back Pain?

The short answer is yes, but it’s not something we recommend. Very rarely are adjustable or standing desks as efficient as sitting desks and so while you may save yourself some pain, you’ll lose productivity in other areas. On top of that, standing desks have higher adjustment periods than even kneeling chairs do and for that reason it’s not something we can recommend.

Closing Notes and Alternative Solutions

For me and thousands of other office warriors, getting an ergonomic chair was the solution to our lower back pain. On top of easing pain, you may want to reduce noise that can cause distraction. Choose a quiet keyboard so you can zero in on writing that proposal or business presentation. Maintain natural lighting in the office to help prevent headaches and keep your laptop’s brightness dimmed.

We also wanted to offer some other solutions and lifestyle tips to help reduce your back pain as much as possible. These tips include:

• Exercise at least 2 or 3 days of the week.
• Stretch your hamstrings each morning when you wake up.
• Sit closer to your desk.
• Keep Your shoulders back.
• Do not slouch, keep your back erect.
• Adjust your computer screen so that you keep your head at eye level instead of looking down.
• Visit a doctor if the lower back pain you’re experienced is particularly bad.
• Consider getting an adjustable desk to better work with your height.

If you liked this article but want to try a different kind of chair for lower back support then take a look at our ergonomic kneeling chair guides. Additionally, if you want to learn more about why ergonomic kneeling chairs trump standing (according to doctors), then read this kneeling chair guide instead.

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