Office Chair Butt: What is it? (Here's the Fix)

Do you know about office chair butt?

Do you often feel discomfort in your waist, hips, or legs when you are at work? The main reason is that you sit for a long time to work. This problem is often ignored by us, but it often happens around us. In the field of office ergonomics, we need to pay more attention to our health, so how does office chair butt happen and how should it be solved? Please follow our article so we can answer you one by one.

What Is Office Chair Butt?

"Office Chair Butt" is a colloquial term that refers to the phenomenon that sitting on an office chair for a long time causes discomfort in the hips and even pain. This is not a formal medical diagnosis, but it is a common problem in an office environment.

The main symptoms are:

• Numbness or tingling: Numbness or tingling in the hips or legs is mainly caused by long-term sitting stimulating the nerves in the hips and legs.
• Muscle soreness: Because the hips are under pressure for a long time, there will be some soreness in the waist, legs and hips, especially when you sit on an ergonomic chair.
• Muscle weakness: This is the most serious symptom. Prolonged discomfort may lead to atrophy of the buttocks and surrounding muscles. If you encounter this situation, you need to seek medical attention immediately.

Office Chair Butt Happen Reason

1. Office Desks and Chairs Poor Ergonomics

One of the main reasons why office chair butt occurs is because of a wrong set of desks and chairs. Wrong desks and chairs are not ergonomic, lack the necessary functions, and cannot provide enough support points for the body. Poor ergonomic design defects include:

Poor Office Chair Cushions

When the cushions of an office chair are overfilled and too soft, your hips and thighs will experience greater friction with the chair, bearing more weight than other parts, which can cause numbness and tingling over time. On the contrary, if the cushions are not filled enough, it will make your coccyx protrude and directly bear the pressure.

Poor quality office chair products have a flatter design of the cushions, which not only cannot fit your body curves and relieve the pressure on your back and hips, but also cause your weight to be unevenly distributed when you sit in the chair, causing discomfort.

Poor office chair cushion material often uses rebonded foam, which will cause heat accumulation in your waist and hips during use, further increasing the pressure on your thighs and hips.

Ergonomic office chair cushions are made of 100% cold-cure foam, although cold-cure foam is expensive and needs to be moulded in one piece. But compared with rebonded foam, cold-cure foam has significantly higher density and resilience, and is also more durable. Boulies office chair cushion uses 100% Cold-cure foam, which is committed to your comfort and health.

Unsuitable Desk and Chairs, Lack of Lumbar Support

An inappropriate chair cannot maintain an effective support point for the back. Meanwhile, an inappropriate desk height will cause pulling of the arms and back, and the pain in the back will extend to the buttocks.

Poor Desks and Chairs, Lack of Adjustability

Different heights, different lengths of legs and arms make everyone's body unique, and when sitting, it needs to be adjusted according to specific circumstances.

However, desks and chairs with limited adjustment cannot accommodate the diverse sitting postures and body shapes of different individuals, leading to poor sitting posture and uneven body force distribution. Long-term use will only increase your body pain. A good chair will adapt to your body and make you feel comfortable.

 Of course, all Boulies office chairs and desks can be adjusted according to your body which provides a comfortable and supportive sitting area.

2. Improper Selection of Chair and Desk Size

Perhaps you will wonder why you still get office chair butt problems when you are already sitting on an ergonomic desk and chair. When choosing office desks and chairs, we tend to pay more attention to the size that fits the office scene, and often ignore the ergonomic desk and chair size that fits our height. Your office chair butt pain is related to the size of the office desk and chair.

The impact of inappropriate table and chair sizes on the user's body:

• The office chair is too high, the armrests are too low, and the seat depth is too deep.  This causes your body to lean forward and bend over, increasing pressure below the knee (popliteal fossa).
• The office chair is too low, the armrests are too high, and the seat depth is too low.  This causes the head to tilt upward, increasing pressure on the coccyx and lower back.
• The table is too high, and the head tilts upward.  In this case, your cervical spine is under great pressure, and blood circulation is poor.
• If the table is too low, you will hunch over and cannot form a correct posture, increasing pressure on your back.

Related Articles:

Standard Desk Dimensions for Office & Home
How to Find the Ideal Height for Your Office Chair

3. Prolonged Sitting

Sitting for long periods of time can affect your health. Let’s take a closer look at what can happen:

Inactive hip muscles:

• “Sleeping” muscles: When you sit for long periods of time, your hip muscles become relaxed and passive, unable to support your weight or generate movement heat.
• Nervous system disconnection: The connection between your brain and hip muscles becomes loose with long periods of movement.

Circulation issues:

• Reduced blood flow: When you sit for long periods of time, it only compresses the blood vessels in the hip area, restricting blood flow to the muscles.
• Fluid accumulation: Prolonged pressure on the hips can also cause fluid to accumulate in the hips and legs, causing swelling and discomfort.

4. Poor Posture

Poor sitting posture can lead to discomfort and unhealthy effects:

• Tight hip flexors: Sitting for long periods of time often causes tight hip flexors (muscles in the front of the hips). This can further lead to unhealthy sitting postures.
• Slouching: When you hunch over, your spine loses its natural growth curve and your pelvis tilts backwards, causing increased pain in your body.
• Forward head tilt: If you lean forward on the desk chair, your whole body will lose balance, again putting pressure on the hips and your lower back.

How to Solve the Office Chair Butt Problem

1. Choose an Ergonomic Chair

The simplest and most effective way to solve this problem is to choose an ergonomic chair, which will greatly improve your comfort and butt health. Look for a chair with the following features:

• Adjustability is key: With your feet flat on the floor, adjust the chair’s height to a 90-degree angle at your knees for the best ergonomic fit.
• Lumbar support: Check the adjustable lumbar support to maintain the natural curve of your lower back.
• Armrest height and width: The armrests of your chair should be able to support your arms and shoulders.
• Adjusts ergonomic seat depth to accommodate people of different heights.  Until you can make the waist and back rest comfortably on the chair back, and the buttocks are fully seated.
• Chairs with foam cushions are more supportive than mesh chairs. Adjusting the tilt angle of the cushion can help you effectively disperse the pressure on your buttocks.
  

Ergonomic Chairs We Recommend:

• OP180: Provides effective lumbar support and a breathable mesh backrest.
• OP300: Equipped with multiple adjustable functions, ensures that your body curves can fit this office chair.
• Master: Multiple adjustable functions, designed to suit all body types, can be used for work and study.

Related article: What Is an Ergonomic Chair Meaning?

2. Body Height Corresponding Ergonomic Desks and Chairs Height

2. Correct Posture for Office Sitting

Make sure your back is supported by the back of the chair when you are in it. Try to maintain your back curves while sitting. The adjustable tilt and recline features allow you to find a comfortable position without hunching over.

• Put your feet horizontally on the ground and adjust your knees to 90 degrees as much as possible.
• Put your hands on the work surface (desktop or computer keyboard) with your elbows at 90 degrees.
• The distance between your thighs and the front edge of the chair is the width of three fingers together.
• The distance between the back of your calves and the front of the office chair is the distance of a fist.
• You need to be able to aim at the middle of the computer screen.
• The armrests of the chair help your arms to be slightly raised at the shoulders.

Tips:

• If your feet cannot be placed flat on the ground, remember to use a footrest.

Related articles:

Best Ergonomic Office Chair with Footrest

3. Take Regular Breaks

Stand up and move around every 30-60 minutes to improve your circulation and reduce muscle stress. Exercises like squats, lunges and hip bridges are particularly helpful, or you can use a chair if you have a small area to move around in, or even at home.

Additionally, if you have a busy schedule and don't have time to take a break, installing a standing desk in your work area would be a good idea. A standing desk allows you to alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day, reducing the time that your hips are pressured while also allowing you to move your legs. The Boulies MagVida standing desk can be easily adjusted in height, allowing you to easily switch between postures and maintain your body's freedom of movement.

Conclusion

Do you understand office chair butt now? We need to understand these inappropriate factors and solve them. A healthy body will help us live better, have a more efficient working environment, and be more comfortable.