What is Lumbar Support? 

You must have heard a lot about lumbar support if you work 6 to 8 or more hours a day for most of the week. For every back health issue out there, the only suggested solution is lumbar support.

Now the real question is what is lumbar support and how can you incorporate it into your daily sitting arrangement to correct posture? This article will discuss what is lumbar support and how it helps you to correct your posture and improve your sitting experience.

What is Lumbar Support? 

The word “lumbar” is synonymous with the “lower spine” or “lumbar spine”. Cambridge Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Dictionary define the term “lumbar” as something “relating to the lower part of the spine”.

So, lumbar supports refer to any furniture or part of it that provides constant support to the lumbar region of a person and keeps the spine aligned in its natural curvature. While sitting on an office chair, your back bends inward.

This bending causes strain in your lumbar muscles and you slouch in your office chair. The solution to this is good lumbar support.

Most ergonomic office chairs come with adjustable lumbar support that fills that gap between your back and the chair. These chairs provide constant support to the natural inward curve of your back. This allows you to maintain a harmless natural posture for long periods of sitting. In the case of adjustable lumbar support, it’s upon the user to control how much the lumbar support protrudes outwards.

What Happens When Proper Lumbar Support is Missing in an Office Chair?

Several studies have been carried out the establish the relationship between the seating position of a person and spine or low back pain. One of the studies carried out by the National Library of Medicine identifies that poor posture has the strongest association with the presence of lower back pain.

Another study done by Carolin Bontrup and others has also established a link between abnormal sitting positions and lower back pain.

Honestly, a correct sitting posture cannot be achieved without proper support to your entire upper body. When your spine isn’t aligned in its natural curvature, you cannot sit comfortably for long hours.

Click here if you want to read about where should lumbar support be on an office chair.

Types of Lumbar Support

Lumbar support comes in various forms to satisfy different types of people so that everyone can adjust the lumbar support according to their needs. You can either buy your furniture, especially office chairs that have built-in lumbar support or you can have it as an attachment.

Ergonomic office chairs typically have built-in dynamic lumbar support, which saves the users from the extra pain of finding the right lumbar support pillow or cushion. The most common types of lumbar support are listed below:

Fixed lumbar support

As the name suggests, fixed lumbar support means it is fixed and cannot be adjusted. This means you cannot adjust this type of lumbar support according to your back area position and shape. It remains fixed at the right angle position, which means instead of providing back support, it badly affects the lumbar region.

Adjustable/ Dynamic lumbar support

Adjustable lumbar support is the heart of modern ergonomic furniture. Most ergonomic office chairs come with good lumbar support that allows you to adjust the position of your chair according to your back position and shape.

External lumbar support/ Lumbar support cushion

While ergonomic chairs come with built-in lumbar support, traditional chairs don’t. For such chairs, lumber support attachments in the form of any external pillow or cushion are used, which provide extra support to the lower region of your back.

These attachments fit most types of chairs and generally come with strings or other types of materials that allow them to remain in place. These pillows are specifically designed with a cutout around the posterior pelvic tissues, which provides increased comfort to people suffering from lower back pain.

Sitting with Lumbar Support

You might be thinking about the difference you will have to make while you incorporate lumbar support in your sitting arrangement. To be fair, you don’t need to do a lot for the shift to lumbar support.

Sitting with your back close to the chair back with no slouching is all that you need to do. Just keep your foot on the floor and let the lumbar support do its magic in maintaining the natural curvature of your back.

If your office chair doesn’t have built-in lumbar support, you will have to add it yourself. Get your portable lumbar support and place it on your chair.

Position it at the bottom of your chair as that is where the lumbar area of your back will rest at. Make sure not to leave any gap between your lower back area and the lumbar support attachment.

Choosing the Perfect Lumbar Support Chair

Many people ask what the “perfect” lumbar support for them is. Honestly, there isn’t anything as “perfect”. Every spine is unique so lumbar support varies from person to person. For example, taller lumbar support works well for taller people. Similarly, more pronounced lumbar support is needed for women because compared to men, women have more curvature in their lower back.

The only thing you need to keep in mind while choosing a lumbar support chair is that it fits well with your back. Try the chair before buying it and see if it helps you with your posture and supports your back.

With that being said, you can find ergonomic chairs very easily. Several brands make such chairs and you can pick anyone that suits your budget. For a quality ergonomic chair, keep a price range between $150 and $250 in your mind.

Let us list down a few brands to make it easy for you to get your lumbar support chair.

Sytas 

Sytas makes very elegant, comfortable, and multi-adjustable ergonomic chairs.

FelixKing

You can also find quality lumbar support chairs at FelixKing. Their chairs come with various features such as flip-up armrests, adjustable height, and lumbar support.

HOMEFUN

HOMEFUN is another brand that makes chairs with all-around lumbar support,  360°Swivel, and ergonomic recliners.

Apart from the above-mentioned brands, you can also check out the following:

• Ticova
• SIHOO
• Noauhaus
• XUER

Conclusion – Final Verdict!

Lastly, the answer to “what is lumbar support” is very simple: constant support to your lumbar area. Lumbar support is extremely important for maintaining a good posture while sitting and keeping your back pain-free.

The best thing you can do to yourself is to take care of your back. If your office doesn’t provide you with ergonomic chairs, use lumbar support attachments for yourself.

If you are an employer, do yourself a favor by buying your employees chairs that offer lumbar support. Trust me, you will see a drastic improvement in the productivity of your employees.

So, what are you waiting for?