managing the pain in my ass - request for perspective

[saffronhare]

Literally.

Starting a couple of weeks ago, I started to experience some serious discomfort when sitting in my office chair, to the point where it would take me a while to be able to walk once I'd cranked myself up to standing. The pain was very specifically rooted in the my left sitzbone, and sent really lovely zaps down the outside of my left leg. Yay for what seemed to be sciatica.

No other seating surface in my life caused this pain; just the office chair. No problems with standing or walking or even running. In fact, walking and running help a lot. But when I noticed that I was trying to avoid sitting at my desk, it seemed like time to Change Something. I looked up some OSHA guidelines, measured things, adjusted and aligned things...but to no avail.

When I went to my boss about the problem to see if we could order me a new chair, she reminded me that a person who is no longer with the company had a "kneeling chair" still stashed in her office. She said they could sure buy me a new chair, and wondered if I wanted to test-sit a few different styles to see what worked best first. I figured I'd give it a try to see if my office chair really was the culprit (still doubting). Survey says YES. As soon as I stopped sitting in that chair, the pain went away and hasn't come back.

It's been nearly a week with the kneeling chair, and I'm noticing some disadvantages. It's clumsy to get up and sit down again. I can't reach for things not right in front of my quite so easily. And it tends to limit my wardrobe choices -- the pressure on my shins is awkward with boots on, and skirts ride up quite dangerously. So.


I'm wondering if anybody on my Friends List has experience with kneeling chairs. Can you clue me in to ways to manage those disadvantages? How about the BalanceBall Chairs? What are the pros and cons of a choice like that?

Comments

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

you may have noticed that the primary computer chair in the great room is a kneeling chair. Pain in the shins tends to come from adjusting the thing too high, when it is adjusted lower, your weight will be more on your butt, although when it's too low, you'll feel like you're going to fall off. At least I do. Not being too high should also help with the skirt riding up.

Awkwardness is mitigated with time. Mercedes makes it look easy, Bryce doesn't totally fall like a drunken wildebeast as much anymore... it just took time. As far as reaching forward, you can't lean as much as one would in a sitting chair, but I find it easier to pull myself closer to the desk which makes that (evil) leaning not required so much.

Here's something you didn't mention though - wheeling around in a kneeling chair is just asking to break a wrist. 8-) Luckily, you're not the type to do silly-arsed stuff like that.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

That sounds logical -- the woman who used this before was quite a bit taller than me. (Surprise!) I'll make that adjustment and see how it feels.

[diermuid.livejournal.com]

I have a tendency to set the chair too high so that I can feel my knees in the foam, it takes a bit of getting used to the neutral position of distributed weight. I have a lower end chair, so it probably is not as efficient as nicer ones. You also have bitty legs compared to mine, so it may also be the case that the chair that fits me as an average height male will not work as well for petite females.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

It's been twenty odd years since I used one. Both of my ankles were broken and sitting in a regular chair was incredibly painful. Sitting with them up was fine, down was painful.. So I borrowed a kneeler chair and found I could sit at it without the blood pooling so badly in my feet.

I loved it, but we haven't had one since. Hop it helps you!

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

It's helping already, because that pain in my ass was pretty awful. Weird how something can be numb and yet really ouchy at the same time, huh?

Mostly, I want to see if I can fine-tune what I've already got and avoid making a purchase. Sure, I work for a for-profit and *could* order a new one, but I'm just Scottish enough to want to make use of available resources first. :)

Hey, how is that course of antibiotics going? Are you managing to take it easy for the two weeks the doctor ordered?

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Still taking it easy, still taking antibiotics and still feel like crap.

Thanks for asking, though. :)

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

Had one. Hated it. David loved it. Go figure. :-)

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I wonder if your husband and I were somehow separated at birth, sometimes. It makes sense, when I think of it that way, why you and I can seem like the most pheersome lesbian couple that never existed.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

*smooch*