Are you currently suffering from the health effects of years of your life spent at an uncomfortable office desk? Leg cramps, body tiredness, muscle soreness, and lower back pain?
Monitoring the natural spinal alignment is difficult due to the demanding job duties. Working long hours in a posture that strains the lower back results in sciatica, which causes a stinging sensation to radiate down the spine to the legs and makes it difficult to focus on work.
Office workers are now switching from traditional office seats to recliners or kneeling stools. However, due to the kneeling stool’s unique design and uncertainty about are kneeling chairs good for sciatica, many people are reluctant to switch to it.
My straightforward answer to “Are kneeling chairs good for sciatica?” is Yes!
The tilt-forward design of the kneeling chair prevents the person from slumping over his desk and makes a person sit on the sitting bones. As the knee pads are below the pelvis level, it opens the hip angle, dramatically decreasing the spinal nerve’s pressure and supporting some of it by the shins.
Wanna dig deep down? This post helps you decide if kneeling posture benefits you in treating sciatica.
Sciatica and sitting posture – what’s the relation?
Sciatica and sitting posture are interlinked. An unnatural sitting posture increases the risk of developing multiple health issues, including sciatica pain – which leads to postural distortion and loss of bowel function if left untreated.
It has never been a good idea to sit still for lengthy periods, but what if you have no other option but to spend the entire day in your office chair? Here the importance of maintaining a correct sitting posture grows double to overcome the adverse effects of prolonged hours of sitting.
How correct posture makes the difference
Sitting on a hardback and roughly designed workroom seat affects your health by adding pressure to the internal organs and the digestive and respiratory systems. In extreme conditions, it increases the risk factor of developing sciatica pain, which causes a burning sensation from the spine to the buttocks and legs, affecting one side of the body in most cases.
The sciatica pain often shoots due to working in an incorrect posture, mostly slouched, where the spine supports the maximum of the body strain. It causes numbness down the legs and affects proper blood circulation. Hence, an ergonomically tailored chair is essential to help a job person minimize these postural issues of sciatica and stay focused on tasks.
Best chair to treat sciatica
An ergonomic workplace seat’s effectiveness in treating sciatica is astounding. As the ergonomic seats are tailored, keeping the need of a job person in mind, it offers a customization option to allow the worker to adjust the seat to find the perfect position to sit.
An ideal sciatica chair should be ergonomically designed to relieve most pressure from the spinal nerve by encouraging a correct posture.
Luxton Ergonomic Kneeling Chair – My best bet for Sciatica
Due to a leaning posture at my workplace, I developed sciatica. The ache in my neck, shoulders, back, and legs hampered my work efficiency. I was also hesitant about are kneeling chairs good for sciatica. Nevertheless, I noticed a significant improvement after switching to a Luxton kneeling chair for sciatica at work on the advice of a co-worker. It is very comfy and sturdy enough that I’ve been using it regularly for over a year.
View Details And Pricing
???? Also, Pin This Interesting Read About How to sit on a kneeling stool to maintain a proper working posture.
Which Kneeling Chair for Sciatica is Best?
If you are looking for the best sciatica chair to switch to, I have listed my top three picks that may work for you as the best kneeling stools for sciatica.
1. Sleekform Kneeling Stool
I found the Sleekform Austin kneeling stool to be considered to relieve sciatica due to its 70-degree tilted seat cushion. The seat’s design gently tilts the pelvis forward and brings a natural S-shaped curve to the spine by encouraging an upright posture. The thick knee pads and the rocking motion offered by the Sleekform kneeling stool also make it a viable option to take off the maximum strain from the spinal nerve and to keep the core muscles engaged throughout the working time.
2. Draggon Kneeling Stool
For sciatica patients, sitting on a stool that is not at their work desk level is challenging, as a hunched posture increases the strain down the spinal nerves.
Draggon kneeling stool works best by offering the height adjustability option from 21″ to 31″ to find the perfect position. This heavy-duty designed stool supports up to 250 lbs and provides front lock wheels and 2x more cushions to offer an active sitting.
3. CINIUS Kneeling Chair
If you are looking for a kneeling chair with a backrest, CINIUS kneeling stool is a viable option.
A stool with a comfortable backrest is the most convenient way to treat sciatica. The CINIUS kneeling stool’s backrest is designed to provide excellent back support to the lumbar area and help treat lower back pain by lessening the compression on the spinal nerve.
Also, it ensures proper blood circulation in the legs by a considerable distance between the seat and the knee pads, which is not provided in a traditional work seat.
Other best chair for sciatica relief
If you are an office worker with a knee pain history, kneeling stools may not be a good choice because they support the body weight by the shins, which can hurt your knees badly. Below I have shared some other ergonomic seats that you can use to replace a kneeling stool.
1. Gabrylly Ergonomic Mesh Stool
I personally liked Gabrylly’s ergonomic mesh stool for the maximum support points and large mesh seat it provides. This stool offers perfect lumbar support and head, hips, and hands support.
This ergonomically designed meshed stool provides soft support to the back and helps it keep aligned while working.
2. Ergo3D Ergonomic Desk
The Ergo3D desk offers dynamic lumbar support to office workers working for prolonged hours. It pivots according to the pressure you put on your lower back to relieve pressure. To minimize the effect of prolonged hours of sitting, it provides up to a 135-degree lounged recline with an adjustable headrest to customize the angle perfect to the position you sit in.
Tips to prevent sciatical nerve compression
Below are some tips to follow to lessen the strain on the spinal nerve while sitting:
Short breaks
Sitting for prolonged hours on a chair affects spinal health by putting continuous strain. Hence it is recommended to change your posture more often and take a 5-minute break every half hour to stretch your body.
Maintain good posture
The slumped forward posture on the desk puts additional strain on the neck, shoulders, and lower back, affecting work productivity.
Maintaining a good posture is crucial in preventing back pain. A correct posture can be achieved by sitting on a stool with a head, arm, and comfortable backrest.
Hip and knee angle
A kneeling stool provides an angle of 45 degrees between the hip and knee which automatically widens the hip angle and supports the body weight by the shins. The kneeling stool’s sciatical posture relieves the strain off the spinal nerves by its tilt-forward design and keeps the core muscles active.
How do you choose a kneeling chair for sciatica?
Curious about how to choose the best sciatica chair? I tried to make it clear and short and list down a few features to look for in your kneeling stool when purchasing.
The chair should fit you: Always pick the stool that perfectly suits your body. The seat pan should be at least one inch/three cm wider on each side than you are so it does not restrict proper blood circulation.
Angle of seat: The whole purpose of investing in a kneeling stool is to get a tilt-forward seat. Always look for a seat with an angle of 120 to 130 degrees so you can easily place your knees and sit on your sitting bones.
Distance between seat and knee pads: There should be enough distance between your seat and knee pads to easily place your knees on the knee pads to support your body weight.
Most Asked Questions
How often should you change positions while sitting in a kneeling chair?
Sitting in the same posture is very difficult and has multiple health effects. Changing your position every 30 minutes is best to get better results.
How long should you sit in a kneeling chair for sciatica?
Kneeling chairs are not designed to be used for prolonged hours. Doing so can cause severe knee pain due to continuous body pressure.
Taking short breaks every 30 minutes is recommended to sit in an aligned posture while sitting.
My verdict
In this post, I have thoroughly answered your question, are kneeling chairs good for sciatica?
Office persons who work for prolonged hours in a hunched posture at a desk are more exposed to developing sciatica pain by compressing the sciatic nerve by their body strain. Switching to a kneeling stool best relieves the pressure from the lower back by its tilt-forward design that engages an upright posture while working.
Luxton Ergonomic Kneeling Chair – My best bet for Sciatica
Switching to this Luxton chair was one of my best moves. I noticed a significant improvement after switching. It is very comfy and sturdy enough that I’ve been using it regularly for over a year.
View Details And Pricing
Adam had a bad experience with his 5 years of job life. He later decided to start his own initiatives and now pursuing his passion for years. Working as a founder and senior editor at Workplace Ambitions is like a dream come true – sharing stuff related to the things he faced earlier and helping the community achieve their work-life dreams. Reach out to him at Adam@workplaceambitions.com.