Best Chair for Lower Back Support

Office Chair Lower Back Pain Buying Guide

When looking for good task chairs for low back pain, there are a few things you should consider. And while sitting in the chair is the best way to know if it’s comfortable, there’s still a lot of research you can do beforehand to ensure a good level of success.

The top chairs for lower or mid back pain not only alleviate this pain point, but they can also help you start on the path of curing it completely. You can choose a low back, midback office chair, or a high back. There is a lot of science that goes into office chairs for back pain that focuses on increasing blood flow and preventing important ligaments from shrinking.

Some popular models that didn’t make our ranking include the Serta Midback office chair, the Herman Miller Sayl chair, Amazonbasics midback, Viva Office, the Leap Fabric chair, and the Steelcase Gesture chair, which are runners up.

However, remember that buying a chair for back pain is only the beginning. Consider getting up, moving around and stretching every so often while working at your desk to promote even better blood flow.

You may also want to consider purchasing a standing desk that you can use along with your office chair for alleviating your discomfort and to create a comprehensive solution.

Features to Consider When Shopping for a Lower Back Pain Chair

Consider the following features as you do your research. Office chairs with these features are the best choices when it comes to relieving pain your lumbar and hip areas.

• Lumbar Support
  If you’re looking to relieve chronic pain in your lower back throughout the day, you absolutely need to buy an office chair that features some kind of lumbar support. Most office chairs are curved in the lumbar area to provide this support, but the best chair for back pain will do more than that. If you have poor posture these chairs will help. Consider finding a chair that offers adjustable lumbar support or lumbar support that contours to the shape of your body automatically. These chairs will relieve your pain the best.

• Comfort and Blood Flow
  It may go without saying, but you’ll want to buy an office chair that’s comfortable. Increased comfort typically leads to increased blood flow (and vice versa), which will help you stay healthy while sitting for extended periods of time. For this reason, a padded seat is recommended. Again, you may not be able to gauge specific comfort without sitting in the seat itself, but you can form a pretty good idea of overall comfort based on the materials used in the chair’s construction. The most comfortable office chairs encourage blood flow and increase breathability using a mesh-fabric hybrid that is both durable and well-ventilated.
• Adjustability
  Most people suffer from back pain because they sit too stiff in their office chairs. The best ones let you lean back and adjust a wide range of comfort settings to prevent ligaments and hip flexors from shrinking and pulling on your back. As such, adjustability is an important component to consider. Chairs that offer more adjustments also make good standing desk chairs due to their flexibility. It should have the proper height and width to seat you comfortably. The top chairs for back pain will allow you to adjust almost every single component of the chair,  including the lumbar support to help correct poor posture. Consider chairs with plenty of adjustable features that also allow you to adjust seat depth, seat height, and have adjustable armrests. Seat height adjustments will make sure your legs are perpendicular to the ground which is essential for good ergonimics. When you buy a fully adjustable chair, you can customize your sitting experience to target your comfort needs and wants. Some people may prefer a kneeling chair, treadmill desk or an electric standing desk to stay upright and exercise, but most of us have to sit. Speaking of standing desks, a standing desk mat is great for your feet while using any chair as it encourages your feet to be in the proper position.

What is an executive chair?

An executive chair is a premium, high back chair that supports the entire upper body. An executive chair comes with more features and tends to be of a higher quality than other standard desk chairs. In layman’s terms, it refers to the “bosses” chair when the quality and cost of office chairs corresponded with seniority.

Finding the best office chair, that will help reduce lower back pain, is a quest for many office workers. While most office seating companies claim to have lumbar support, they almost always lack in this area.

While you may find other lists on the internet, almost all of them will be built to push you into Amazon products. It’s important to note that most, if not all of these websites, have never tried the chairs they promote. As someone who has sat in hundreds of chairs, I know there is no way you could ever know what chair is excellent or bad without sitting in each first hand.

Chairs that offer better lower back support do exist, and today we will take a closer look at the ones we have found to provide the best lumbar support. I will show you chairs that are available at different price points so that no matter your budget is, you can start to work more comfortably.

How you sit in your chair while you task

Not all users task the same way. While some work in perfect posture with their back up against the chair, others tend to slouch. Maybe you like to lean to the side when you type. It’s essential to understand how you like to sit when finding the perfect office chair.

One of the most significant issues we’ve seen is that customers try to adapt to an office chair. This is the quickest way to failure, as most habits can be hard to break. Some sitting habits aren’t bad, and the expectation that you sit perfectly for long hours throughout the day is unrealistic. Finding a chair that provides proper support for the way you sit, is likely to improve your support while seated.

Does the chair offer good support while reclined?

Do you like to recline in your chair? Is this something that you spend a lot of time doing? If you are taking a lot of phone calls, in meetings or even working from this position, proper support while reclined can be important if you have lower back issues.

Just because a chair offers great support while you’re sitting upright, doesn’t automatically mean that you will see the same support when reclined. We’ve found through testing all of the chairs in our office, there can be significant differences in lower support as you recline back into the chair.

Depending on how the recline function moves on your chair, the lower support can change in various ways. Whether it’s diminishing support or that the support actually moves up the back, both can have a significant impact on your lower back pain.

Is the lumbar support height and depth adjustable?

While not always true, having a lumbar support system that is height and depth adjustable can be important. If the lumbar support system doesn’t provide a good fit for your body, you will need the ability to move it up and down your back. Having depth adjustment will allow you to add and reduce the amount of pressure applied to your back. Depending on the amount of support needed, this can be a nice feature to have.

Does the backrest and/or lumbar move with you in the chair?

Depending on the type of tasks you perform in your chair, you may want to consider how the backrest and lumbar moves with you. If you are doing a lot of twisting and reaching, having a backrest that moves with you and provides continuous support is good if you really need a lot of lower support.

We have seen a lot of different types of backrests that will provide this function. From the entire backrest bending and flexing, to only the lumbar support automatically adjusting in depth. If this is important to you, you’ll want to pay close attention to the back of the desk.

What material is the lumbar system made from?

The last thing to consider is what type of material the lumbar and backrest are made from. Certain types of materials will flex more, spreading out the support through your back. We have seen upholstered lumbar systems with padded backing that can feel more stiff and will focus more on a certain area. Depending on your needs, this type of focused support can be good or bad. This is especially true if you’re able to fine tune where you can place the support.

With nearly 65 million American adults dealing with back pain, it’s only logical that designers are making furniture more in tune with our bodies, especially office furniture. Those with desk jobs often spend the majority of a given workday in a sedentary, sitting position, which can exacerbate existing back pain. Making a choice as simple as deciding to swap out our existing office chair for an ergonomic model can help make you significantly more comfortable throughout the day.

Whether you’re working from home at a DIY desk setup or commuting to an office, you may have begun to feel the strain that sitting for seven or more hours a day can put on a body. If said strain has led you to wonder whether it’s worth investing in a better, more ergonomic office chair, the answer is almost certainly yes. “Makeshift setups can cause a laundry list of problems, including back, shoulder, and wrist pain,” explains Dr. David Perna of Back and Body Medical. Dr. Marc Agulnick, an orthopedic surgeon based on Long Island who’s affiliated with NYU Winthrop Hospital, agrees: “If you’re sitting for a long period of time in one position that’s not natural or a bad position from a postural standpoint, over time, that’s going to break down your spine.” Take it from someone who spent the first year and a half of the pandemic crouched over my computer on a kitchen bar stool or working from bed (and whose neck, shoulders, and wrists paid the price): Invest in a good office chair.

Finding the right ergonomic office chair, though, can be tricky — there is no universally perfect model, because every body is different, according to Agulnick. “If you take a one-size-fits-all approach, there are a lot of people who are miserable with it, because what’s comfortable for one person is going to be miserable for another,” he explains, and being comfortable in your office chair is definitely a priority.

What Are the Best Office Chairs for Back Pain?

The best office chairs for back pain are ergonomic chairs with built-in lumbar support. The lumbar region, also known as your lower back, needs support between the chair and the natural inward curve of your spine. Having this support helps you maintain a good and healthy posture. Without lumbar support, the natural tendency is to either slouch or lean forward, and the muscles in your back have to work even harder to support your spine’s correct alignment, which tires them out.