Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion General Message Board for Ankylosing Spondylitis and Related Diseases Office chair recommendations

Hey everyone! I’m looking for office chair recommendations. I’m 5’3” and I work very long hours from home. My current office chair was recommended to me by someone without serious back problems and it’s not working for me. I appreciate any/all recommendations!

Great question. I feel like you actually need to go to a place that sells a lot of chairs and sit in them.

My rule of thumb is to have lots of adjustable functions. The more, the better. The back of the chair, the arms (up/down & angle in/out)and the seat, plus a large range for height. These get expensive. That’s the type at my wife’s work station, where I will sit to do bookkeeping and taxes for her business. I’ll probably sit for no more than five hours at a time.

There was a time that I used a chair that went as tall as a stool at my office.

Before corona virus I had the worst, old leather type chair that had no adjustments . But I stood 90% of the time. When I sat, I usually sat cross legged.

I rarely use a chair anymore. I have a standing desk. I stand all day long. In my work area I have a simple sturdy wooden chair that I can sit cross legged in.

One last thought, I got an Upright Go2 to monitor posture. It’s been really helpful to let me know what activities I stoop forward in. I’m pretty good at being talk while on the computer. Looking at my phone is often stooped. Washing dishes isn’t great unless I’m super careful. It makes sense, because I’ll ‘feel it’ if I have a lit of dishwashing to do.

Hope that helps.

I’ve been working from home for a year. This chair has been better than the good chairs my office provided.

https://www.staples.com/ayalon-grey...-chair/product_2856674?scrollToReviews=Y

I’m 5’3” and most chairs are too big for me.

I *just* got the Realspace MFTC 200 (as in it was delivered about an hour ago and I just finished putting it together!) so I can't vouch for its long term comfort or durability but last weekend I spent a good bit of time trying out chairs at Staples, Office Depot, etc. I found that I really liked the ones where you can adjust the seat angle but it seemed like that was a feature that was mainly available in pricier chairs (eg, a $450 Tempur-pedic chair ). This one was $250 at Office Depot but I found the exact same one on Amazon for $150 (I know, I hate to shop in person and buy online but I make exceptions if it's a big box store and a big price difference).

It has a mesh back so it's relatively cooler, the cushion is firm but not too firm and it has way more adjustment options than I was seeing at this price point and even at higher price points - back tilt, seat tilt, quick adjust arm rest height, and adjustable arm rest width (you need a screwdriver for that). Plus, a lot of the chairs these days push your shoulders forward so they aren't set up to even allow healthy posture. Also, I'm 5'4 and with the seat front tilted up, it's maybe just a hair too tall (ie, I will probably still use a footrest) but I think this is probably a really good shorter person's chair.

Anyways, I really liked this one but regardless of any specific chair recs, my two big takeaways were:
#1. The more adjustments, the better. And,
#2. You probably have to go in and try a bunch out.

Realspace MFTC 200 Multifunction Ergonomic Super Task Chair (#493876): https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B071NTCMJN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1