Chiropractor Explains How To Make Any Wooden Chair Comfortable

Wooden chairs are aesthetically pleasing, but something they don’t come equipped with is comfort. There’s nothing more uncomfortable than sitting on a wooden chair for prolonged periods of time in most events. But you’re in luck. If you don’t want to upgrade your wooden chair yet increase its comfortability, you need to become familiar with the answer to how to make a wooden chair comfortable. 

There are four primary methods for increasing the comfort of a wooden chair: adding a wedge, placing a footrest, sleeping on a lumbar support cushion, and even practicing better posture. Either way, you’ll improve wooden chair comfortability and lower the risk of back pain dramatically.

There are various methods you can use to make your wood chair more comfortable, as you can see. As someone who has designed solutions for wooden chairs (and treated people who have back pain!), let me explain why this article will make a wooden chair comfortable, the reasons behind why you should take it into consideration, please read on. 

How to Make a Wooden Chair Comfortable (3 Methods) 

Believe it or not, it’s possible to make a wooden chair a lot more comfortable. To achieve this, consider becoming knowledgeable on the below:

Seat Wedge 

An ergonomic seat wedge is a prevalent method of improving the comfort of a wooden chair. A seat wedge is a triangular-shaped cushion, which allows you to align your body into a more comfortable position on the chair.

Seat wedges naturally push the pelvis forward when sitting, which actively improves posture by encouraging your back into an upright position. Furthermore, a seat wedge actively engages core stability, putting less pressure on your back and hips, and providing a much more comfortable working position. Seat wedges are great if you spend a lot of time sitting down

Simply place the cushion on the chair with the cushion inlining down towards the front of the chair, and you’ll notice an improvement in your posture.

Footrest 

Another popular choice has been the ergonomic footrest, or indeed any footrest. They have numerous benefits, but first, let’s look at how they work. Essentially, a footrest is a small panel that you would have on the floor or under your desk for your feet, so they aren’t sitting on the floor or crossed over. 

Footrests align posture and, again, actively engage your joints and muscles rather than allowing them to fall limp. They effectively make keeping good posture easier, and they’re a really great option for shorter people, who may not be able to make proper contact with the floor when sitting. 

Footrests have numerous other benefits too, like improving circulation and blood flow. Poor circulation is one of the leading causes of discomfort when sitting, as it can cause stiffness and even blood clotting. Staying in a static position for too long can be detrimental to your comfort, and a footrest allows you to move more regularly. 

Lumbar Support Cushion  

One of the biggest causes of pain and discomfort in wooden chairs is the lack of proper support for the lumbar. The lumbar region is your lower back, and lumbar strength is vital to a healthy spine. Adding a lumbar support cushion to your wooden chair will make it loads more comfortable as you won’t be putting all of your weight on your upper back, thighs, and buttocks. 

I’ve written a complete hands-on review about the best sitting position for sciatica and here is what I tested best with my sciatica patients.

Sitting with inadequate lumbar support on any chair can lead to both short and long-term discomfort. If you sit in the chair all day, doubtless, you’ll eventually become uncomfortable. While getting up and moving around is still necessary to maintain proper posture, a lumbar support cushion is a valuable tool. It will also improve circulation, as there isn’t too much strain being put on a few points. A lumbar support cushion actively engages your muscles and joints.

I was surprised how similar cheap memory foam seat cushions were on Aliexpress from the listing on Amazon!

Why Is It Important to Have a Comfortable Wooden Chair? 

Now you’re aware of how you can make a wooden chair more comfortable, let’s check out the benefits you’ll receive from achieving this:

• Boosts comfort – According to study after study, most people who spend long hours sitting down, especially for their jobs, experience significant discomfort from their chairs. This is undoubtedly worse with wooden chairs, which are simply not as comfortable. Boosting the comfort of your wooden chair by any of the means mentioned above is essential to your well-being.
• Improve productivity – It won’t be surprising to hear that those same studies also found that a more comfortable chair means a more productive work environment. Discomfort can be a profound distraction and can get in the way of your work profoundly. You need to be even more aware of this with wooden chairs, as they are typically harder to get comfortable in.
• Different chairs may be uncomfortable in different ways, so try and pinpoint which part of your chair is causing you the pain and address the problem. Once you’ve done this, you will definitely notice your productivity improve enormously. Without discomfort, you’ll breeze through your work without even thinking about it, and maybe you can even take an earlier finish! Ultimately, sitting in uncomfortable wooden chairs does not allow us to reach our full potential.

If you are into super easy and inexpensive alternatives to office chairs, I wrote a fantastic article on how and why you should consider these options for back pain and I encourage you to read it!

• Enhances posture and reduces back pains – Poor posture and uncomfortable chairs cause short-term and long-term issues. Different chairs are designed for use in different ways, and wooden chairs aren’t typically designed to be sat in for 6, 7, or even 8 hours at a time. Whatever you happen to be doing while sitting in a wooden chair, most of us tend to get engrossed in it and forget our posture. Over the long term, wooden chairs and poor posture will cause increased discomfort and pain. 
• Incorrect posture is one of the number one causes of pain and discomfort. All of the items we have suggested above are fantastic for your posture; lumbar support cushions are perhaps one of the best options. If your spine is misaligned or you’re putting too much pressure on one area, this is poor posture, and you’ll quickly start noticing discomfort. Practicing proper posture may seem strange and even actively uncomfortable at first, but you will notice countless benefits in the long term. 

Takeaway

Wooden chairs are aesthetically pleasing, but there’s nothing more uncomfortable than sitting on one for prolonged periods of time in most events. But you’re in luck! If you don’t want to upgrade your wooden chair yet increase its comfortability, then all it takes is a little knowledge about how to make a wooden chair more comfortable, like adding a well-designed orthopedic seat cushion.

Sources

1. Fenety, P. Anne, Carol Putnam, and Joan M. Walker. “In-chair movement: validity, reliability and implications for measuring sitting discomfort.” Applied Ergonomics 31.4 (2000): 383-393.
2. McGill, S. M., N. S. Kavcic, and E. Harvey. ““Sitting on a chair or an exercise ball: various perspectives to guide decision making.” Clinical Biomechanics 21.4 (2006): 353-360.