I am assuming there is some actual ergonomic issue at the heart of this, so GQ would be the right place, but if not, Mods, please move.
I work from home 3 days a week and in the office 2 days. My two days in the office are really hard on my hips. When I get up from my desk chair I have pain in my hips. The pain is right where the femur mates up to the hip bone. I can’t seem to adjust to a position that avoids this. I am about to purchase my own chair to take in. But what exactly is my current chair doing, or not doing? My desk chair at home does not cause the same sensation upon rising.
wild suggestion if you are considering buying a chair for you office is buy the duplicate of your home office chair, keep the brand new chair at home and take your used one in to the office =)
I find that there is something about the curve of the seat under your ass that can pressure your hip joints the wrong way. You have essentially imprinted a perfect image of your ass in your personal desk chair, so the not molded work chair at the office pressures your joints wrong.
I work from home and am on the computer all the time. When my ergonomics are right, I’m happy and healthy; when they’re not, even a chiropractor can’t put it all back together again.
The first thing to look at for ergonomics is joint angles. Feet should be on the floor or a floor rest. Knees, hips and elbows at 90 degrees. Hands just above the keyboards so that the fingers drape down naturally and contact the keys. Monitor at eye level (eyes should be 2/3 up the monitor) and at a distance equal to your outstretched arm (your fingertips should just touch it if you put your arm up horizontally).
Now for furniture. Your back should be supported so that the trunk is straight up and down, but the back curves normally (toward the stomach in the lower back and out in the shoulder area). Some chairs actually push on the spine in the wrong places. The desk should be at a height that makes typing comfortable. If the desk is used for things other than typing (such as writing by hand), you’ll want a keyboard tray or other way to keep the keyboard lower than the desk surface. The mouse should be right next to the keyboard and no closer or further back. (Many recommendations have been made that the number pad on most keyboards moves the mouse too far away from center; I use a keyboard without the number pad and have a separate number pad).
If any of these things are off, the chair itself may not be to blame. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that you don’t always feel the pain where you expect to when your posture is off.
My guess is that the chair is too short, even fully extended, and I have to sit too far down. I would have never bought the work desk chair if I were shopping for one, I can tell it just wasn’t right. But all of the chairs in the office are clones, so I can’t switch with anyone – well, not as a means to improve the situation anyway.