From The Ergoweb® Learning Center

Office Chairs, Low Back Pain and Ergonomics

PR Web Newswire reported this week that, in a poll by Spine-health.com, most office workers’ surveyed say their backs feel worse after their work day, despite the growing emphasis on workplace ergonomics and ergonomic office chairs.

70% of the poll respondents said that their backs felt significantly worse (52%) or somewhat worse (18%) at the end of their work day as compared to the start of their day. The Spine-health.com poll of 1,137 people with desk jobs shows that fifteen percent felt about the same after work, and only 15% felt better after work.

“It should come as no surprise that sitting for long periods in an office chair can cause low back pain. Sitting adds large amounts of pressure to the back muscles and spinal discs (even more than standing), and often people with desk jobs don’t move around much and/or they slouch, causing even more strain on spinal structures,” says John Triano, DC, PhD, a chiropractor in Plano, Texas, and author of several Spine-health.com articles about workplace ergonomics. “However, the poll results do suggest that