When choosing office chairs, one of the most important features to look for is lumbar support. Without it, you could end up with chronic lower back pain that impacts you at work and at home.
With an increasing demand for ergonomic and cost-effective office chairs, office furniture companies in Lagos now have a big task. At Cristo Projects, we are ever ready for your demands in sophisticated, ergonomic, and cost-effective office furniture.
Ergonomic chairs are characterized by firm, contoured backs which are designed to provide support to the lower, middle, and upper back. Office chairs with adequate lumbar support will provide sufficient protection for back muscles and the spine.
The height of the backrest should also be adjustable. When seated on an office chair with an adjustable backrest, there is much freedom to lean back and rest one’s neck comfortably when necessary.
Lack of or inadequate lumbar support to the upper back and neck will result in soreness of muscles as well as migraines. To get this affordable furniture in Lagos or any part of Nigeria, send us an email or message through our social media platforms.
When seated, you should be able to maintain the natural curve of your back to keep your body properly aligned. To achieve this, adjust the lumbar support by moving the tabs behind the seat back up or down to sync with the curve of your lower back.
For an office chair without this feature, a portable lumbar support cushion will make a good alternative. The back tilt feature can also be used to prevent sitting completely upright all day. It will enable you to create a slightly open angle for more movement or freedom as you work.
For this reason, adjustability is an important feature to look out for when purchasing or placing orders for new sets of office chairs. The back height and other parts of the office chair must be adjustable to suit or accommodate different users.
When the key parts of an office chair are adjustable, it becomes easy to configure it to the user’s required taste to get the full support required for daily tasks in the office.
Lumbar support refers to furniture that provides extra support to the lumbar region to keep the spine aligned in its natural curvature. Lumbar support furniture keeps the muscles from over-tasking themselves which can help an injury in this region heal.
Office chairs with lumbar support allow the spine to rest in its natural alignment with a slight curve when sitting.
An injury to the lumbar region of the spine can occur at any age. Lumbar support helps promote good posture by simply filling in the gap between the lumbar spine and the seat thereby supporting the natural inward curve of the lower back.
Office chair lumbar support ensures that your spine stays straight even as you become tired or if you sit in your desk chair for long periods. In addition to lumbar support, choose an office chair that has adjustable armrests and an adjustable backrest for the best comfort.
When placed correctly, lumbar support should provide the following benefits:
- Ears, shoulders, and pelvis (hips) are kept in alignment
- Natural inward curvature of the lower spine is maintained
It is important that the back flushes with the lumbar support as this is when protection for the lower back is achieved. With good lumbar support from the office chair, the muscles surrounding the spine are relieved of much of the responsibility of having to keep the spine naturally curved.
Over time, as the body tires, the muscles holding the spine in such a position tend to become weak and the head and upper back tend to lean forward to compensate for the weakening of the lumbar muscles. The natural tendency is to slouch and or lean forward in the office chair.
Types of lumbar support
Back support requirement differs from one user to another based on their various tasks. The 4 most common types of lumbar support for office chairs are fixed lumbar support, adjustable lumbar support, dynamic lumbar support, and external lumbar support.
#1. Fixed Lumbar Support
This refers to lumbar support that is fixed into the backrest and cannot be repositioned or modified in any way whatsoever. They are found on the lower end of leather office chairs. This kind of lumbar support is usually more ergonomic than no dedicated lumbar support at all.
Office furniture companies in Lagos and neighboring states need to educate their customers properly on the importance of lumbar support in office chairs.
#2. Adjustable Lumbar Support
As the name implies, this type of lumbar support allows manual adjustments of the lumbar area to better fit the curvature. Adjustable lumbar support occurs on many levels in office chairs nowadays.
Many office chairs have a seatback that can be lowered or raised to fit the user accurately. The seatback should be positioned in such a way that the curve of the lower spine is supported by the curve in the back of the chair.
If more than one person will make use of the chair, then this level of adjustment may be a better option.
- Adjustable Height: The chair user is able to adjust the height or location of the lumbar support to target the precise area of the back.
- Adjustable Depth: The chair user is able to control how much the lumbar support protrudes outwards.
- Adjustable Firmness: With the help of a pre-installed knob, the user controls how firm or soft the lumbar support is.
The best type of adjustable lumbar support combines two or all three of these features. Our EQPM302 satisfies i and ii above while EQEGM01 satisfies all three.
#3. Dynamic Lumbar Support
Here, depth and firmness are automatically adjusted based on the chair user’s posture to provide constant support at all times. When properly implemented, it becomes highly beneficial because it automatically adapts to constant changes in your back as you sit. Our EQEG02 and EQEGM07 are perfect examples of chairs with this feature.
#4. External Lumbar Support
Besides the earlier-mentioned types of lumbar support, there is external lumbar support in the form of a cushion. Here, a curved cushion or lumbar roll, fitted to the seatback of an office chair can be manually placed to fit the proper areas of the lumbar region.
These cushions can be used in conjunction with most types of chairs to best fit the individual’s needs. Some cushion products may be inflatable to increase or decrease the amount of support.
A lot of gaming chairs these days consist of an external lumbar and head pillow as a cheap alternative to in-built lumbar support. The majority of these lumbar pillows offer little support to the back and are best thrown away. Alternatively, dedicated lumbar support pillows can be highly ergonomic and come in diverse shapes and sizes to match different body types.
External lumbar supports can also be used with car seats to protect the back from strains due to long trips or long sitting hours
Are you aware that throw pillows can offer you adequate external lumbar support? Throw pillows are designed to give support to the lower back while seated. With adequate cushion from high-quality fiber material covered by the finest fabric upholstery, you can imagine, a throw pillow can be your cheapest source of external lumbar support.
We have highlighted extensively how important it is to protect our back and overall health condition by using lumbar support or procuring office chairs that offer quality lumbar support. Learn more about the health benefits of ergonomic furniture
Another important feature is the jugular support. Our necks are equally as important as our backs. When you develop pains in the neck region, it will definitely affect how you sit hence having an impact on your back at various levels.
Jugular supports are designed to offer some sort of cushion protection to the neck while we perform various day-to-day tasks like office work, driving, gaming, etc.
They are adequately cushioned with enough fiber and designed to fit perfectly and comfortably. Our jugular supports are affordable and come in different colors.
How to position an office chair for adequate back support
Besides using lower back support, there are other simple ways to make sure that an office chair provides the right support for the back and neck.
For computer users:
- The office chair should have elbow supports to avoid strain on the neck. Elbows should be able to comfortably rest on the elbow supports at a right angle.
- Knees should be bent at a right angle, with a footrest to elevate the feet while sitting in the office chair.
- Knees should be bent at a right angle, with a footrest to elevate the feet while sitting in the office chair, if necessary.
- Eyes should be able to look straight ahead at the computer screen while seated in the office chair.
If you are looking for affordable furniture in Lagos or anywhere in Nigeria, we are your surest bet. With our innovative and state-of-the-art design and manufacturing processes coupled with the indefatigable efforts of our world-class production team, we will provide you with office chairs with good lumbar support.
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