Help me not hate my new Aeron chair October 16, 2012 Subscribe Due to long-standing back/shoulder/neck pain, I received an Aeron chair at work a couple of months ago. It has helped in one way (namely, the armrests can be adjusted lower than any other chair I've had, which has helped my shoulders) but otherwise has completely aggravated my lower and mid-back pain. Help me figure out a hack so that I can actually sit at my desk for longer than 10 minutes at a time without going nuts. I know I'm supposed to love this chair, but I don't (except for the aforementioned super-low armrest feature to accommodate my long arms). I think the problem is a combination of the damn mesh seat (no support for my bony ass) and lack of back support/cushioning (I have the model with the PostureFit -- or, as I like to call it, LackOfPostureFit). No matter how I adjust the height, tilt, tension, etc., my back inevitably winds up feeling extremely tight, and is occasionally in spasm by the time I leave for the day.
I have a small lumbar support cushion attached to the chair right now, which helps a little... but one of my problems (according to my physical therapist) is that I actually tend to overarch my lower back, so too much cushioning in that area exacerbates that. I have tried a wedge seat cushion, but it absolutely doesn't work for the seat of this chair (it fits fine on my desk chair at home). Does anyone have any experience with the Stratta cushion for Aeron chairs? At that price, I want to make sure it's likely to help before I cough up the money (or try to convince work to pay for it). A few other points: I do have an ergonomic keyboard and a keyboard tray that are about as good as I'm going to get, so that's probably not an area that can be further improved at this point. There's not anyone at work who's an ergonomic expert to help me; the facilities guy who delivered the chair was helpful in terms of showing me how to adjust the seat, but beyond that is not really his area of expertise.
(Are there freelance ergonomic consultants who you can hire for an hour to come in and evaluate this sort of thing?) I would love an entirely different chair (my eye is on the Steelcase Leap), but I have strong doubts that work will cough up for one. (Does anyone have experience buying a chair like this from an unauthorized dealer? I see them here at about 50% of the retail price, and at this point I'm half-tempted to buy one myself and bring it in to my office, though part of me doesn't think I should have to do this on my dime.)Cruz Mid-Back Leather Desk Chair Product Type: Desk Chair Overall: 23.5'' W x 25.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 41lb. Overall: 26'' W x 26'' D Overall Product Weight: 32.15lb. Overall: 24'' W x 23'' D Overall Product Weight: 23.5lb. Prim Mid-Back Desk Chair Overall: 21.5'' W x 17.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 24.5lb. Overall Product Weight: 43lb. Overall: 18'' W x 21.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 19.4lb.
Noah Mid-Back Leather Desk Chair Overall: 25.2'' W x 25.2'' D Overall Product Weight: 35.20lb. Overall: 24'' W x 20'' D Overall Product Weight: 22.4lb. Lillian Mid-Back Leather Desk Chair Overall: 26.38'' W x 25.98'' D Overall Product Weight: 33lb. Overall: 27'' W x 27'' D Overall Product Weight: 27lb. Overall: 24.5'' W x 23.75'' D Overall Product Weight: 24lb. Product Type: Executive Chair High-Back Leather Desk Chair Overall: 25.75'' W x 26'' D Overall: 25'' W x 26'' D Overall Product Weight: 28lb. Overall: 27.5'' W x 27.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 40lb. High-Back Mesh Desk Chair Overall: 25.75'' W x 27.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 39.94lb. Fuse Mid-Back Desk Chair Overall: 23'' W x 23'' D Overall Product Weight: 22lb. Overall: 17.5'' W x 15.25'' D Overall Product Weight: 14lb. Overall: 18.25'' W x 18.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 21.5lb.
Teo Bungee Desk Chair Overall: 23'' W x 27'' D Overall Product Weight: 31.2lb. High-Back Exercise Ball Chair Product Type: Exercise Ball Chair Overall: 25'' W x 28'' D Overall Product Weight: 13lb. Solene Mid-Back Desk Chair Overall: 21.26'' W x 24.02'' D Overall Product Weight: 26.4lb. Photios Club Desk Chair Overall: 27'' W x 28'' D Overall Product Weight: 30lb. Overall: 23.4'' W x 23.4'' D Overall: 16.5'' W x 20.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 26lb. Overall: 22'' W x 13.75'' D Overall Product Weight: 31lb. Overall: 19.5'' W x 26.25'' D Overall Product Weight: 36lb. Overall: 23.4'' W x 21.8'' D Mid-Back Leather Desk Chair Overall: 21.5'' W x 26'' D Overall Product Weight: 29.5lb. Overall: 22'' W x 23'' D Overall Product Weight: 23lb. Overall: 25.6'' W x 24.4'' D Overall Product Weight: 27.5lb. Overall: 28.75'' W x 23.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 28.6lb.
Overall: 21.5'' W x 23.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 35.2lb. Overall: 24'' W x 22'' D Overall Product Weight: 37lb. Overall: 25.2'' W x 22.8'' D Overall Product Weight: 21lb. Vibe High-Back Desk Chair Overall Width - Side to Side: 28.5'' Bonnie Mesh Desk Chair Overall: 26.5'' W x 24'' D Overall Product Weight: 39lb. Overall: 23.8'' W x 25.7'' D Overall Product Weight: 44lb. Baxley Mesh Desk Chair Ripple Mid-Back Desk Chair Overall: 18.5'' W x 23'' D Overall: 21.75'' W x 23.5'' D Overall Product Weight: 30.4lb. Alves Mid-Back Mesh Desk Chair Overall: 22.5'' W x 21.75'' D Overall: 23'' W x 24'' D Overall Product Weight: 25lb. Overall: 25.25'' W x 23'' D Overall Product Weight: 36.38lb. Ezra High-Back Desk Chair Overall: 21'' W x 26'' D Overall: 20.25'' W x 25.75'' D Cormac Mid-Back Desk Chair Overall: 25.59'' W x 26.38'' D Overall Product Weight: 31.46lb.