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The benefits of contoured seating in office chairs

Ergonomics continues to play a role in the workplace, as workers complain of physical fatigue after being unemployed during the workday. It is easy to understand why the seat base is the most crucial component of a comfortable and ergonomically functional office chair. Whenever the seat becomes uncomfortable, it begins to squirm, sit incorrectly, and lose the benefits of other features of the chair. Recently, major office chair manufacturers reported that a contoured seat design was studied to be the most comfortable seat for long-term sitting.

Office supply distributors are beginning to sell office chairs from leading chair manufacturers that market a contoured seat with multiple layers of foam that vary in densities and thicknesses. This reduces seat pressures where the highest pressure points in a person’s sitting posture can cause discomfort. The North Carolina Center for Ergonomics recently confirmed the benefits of mitigating seat pressure. The study showed that a contoured seat reduces seat pressure better than flat seats. The surface contact weight distribution is reinforced due to the wrapping effect in the thigh area that disperses body weight and pressure. Pressure pain from prolonged sitting can be associated with the ischial tuberosities, commonly called “sitting bones.”

Contoured seats that are padded with one layer of full coverage foam (2 “thick) as the main element also benefit from using two additional layers of higher density foam (½” thick) to absorb higher pressure points. when sitting. High-density foam virtually eliminates “bottoming out” so common in flat seat designs.

A differentiator for the contoured seat includes two unique recessed areas within the seat itself. The first recessed area is created with the heaviest foam placed lower, ensuring that the seat does not bottom out. Ergonomics specialists refer to this large gap as the “Ish plate” because it addresses the high impact of sitting on the ischial tuberosities. The second recessed area is on the rear edge of the seat and creates the softest point on the entire surface of the seat for the coccyx (tail bone) area, known to be a very sensitive point.

In short, office workers do not have flat bottoms, so why buy office chairs with flat seats that do not conform to the human body? A flat seat becomes uncomfortable the longer the person sits, so it may be wise for a business to invest in office chairs with contoured seating for its staff.

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