Can an Ergonomic Chair Fit Different-sized Users?

Ergonomic chairs are used for the purpose of supporting the skeletal posture, when sitting to perform work-based activities in daily living.

In many situations, the ergonomic chair is used by different-sized people, which means that it should have a mechanism to adjust the chair to fit all their comfort needs.

To do this the ergonomic chair must have a seat slide mechanism. This type of mechanism will shorten or lengthen the base in the chair, for reducing or lengthening the basal support that to accommodate different height people.

The seat slide is a mechanism (as shown in the resource page box) fitted to an ergonomic chair that easily changes the seat length to be shorter or longer, so that your correct basal support is accommodated.

The correct seat measurement for your seat length is measured by placing four fingers in the space between the seat and the back of your knees.

Anything shorter than four fingers in length will cut off the blood supply to your legs for prolonged sitting. And anything longer will provide inadequate support in the base that supports your body in the pelvic area for long-term sitting.

The reason that you’re basal support is so critical in an ergonomic chair is because the greatest proportion of your body weight is directed to this area. Your body weight needs to be distributed across the largest surface area possible in the base, for comfort and support in the pelvic region.

When you are sitting on your abdomen, the pressure of your body weight depletes oxygen from the tissues around the pelvic bones and starves them of oxygen. Your body will tell you when the area needs more oxygen, by your need to change positions.

 If you do not change positions, then the tissue cells will be starved of oxygen and the tissues will ‘necrode’ or begin to die. This is a danger in people with spinal cord injuries, who sit in wheelchairs; because they have lost the vital nerve information that informs their body they need more oxygen in the cells.

If people with spinal injuries do not learn a strict regime of lifting their pelvic area at least every 5 minutes that relieves pressure off their pelvic area; they will suffer bed sores, which is the beginning process of necrosis or death of tissues.

Ergonomic chairs are vital for people who have any discomforts in their skeletal joints which impairs functional mobility. They are important to provide the correct skeletal support, so that any pressure is evenly distributed throughout the whole body.

Every person is a different shape and size, which means the ergonomic chairs need to accommodate all proportions, if they use the same chair. A Seat Slide fitted into the seat mechanism will provide the necessary changes to the ergonomic chair, so that it will adapt to the shape of each person sitting the chair. The chair will then provide the correct ergonomic basal support and comfort to their pelvic region.