Desk jobs can be a pain – literally and otherwise – for those suffering from hip arthritis; long hours spent sat at a desk don’t do our inflamed and/or sore lower bodies much good, with the wrong chair restricting blood flow, promoting unhealthy posture and leading to joint stiffness that makes it difficult to get back on our feet and put our weight on our hips as we walk or move around. In fact, hip arthritis, or to give it its more technical name, hip osteoarthritis, can make the simplest of tasks, such as sitting down or hooking on our jeans, almost excruciating.
Injury or damage of cartilage tissue around joints like the hips reduces the body’s ability to absorb shock, and since the body does not grow new cartilage, the condition is degenerative, worsening over time. However, this worsening can be slowed down, and kept at a harmless minimum, if we take care from the outset to adjust our lifestyles to accommodate a condition like hip arthritis – and one of those decisions involves adjusting how we work. A healthy work routine with plenty of planned intervals to move around, exercise and prevent joint stiffness is one way to go – and so is the right chair, to make the business of sitting down for a stretch and getting back to your feet again less of an arduous chore. Check out our picks for the best office chair for hip arthritis.
KEN’S PICK
Serta Ergonomic Executive Office Motion Technology
Too much sitting for long stretches of time isn’t ideal for hip arthritis patients, but when it comes to a desk job it can often become unavoidable. In such cases, though, you don’t have to compromise your wellbeing, as long as you have the right chair – and in our opinion, this leather upholstered unit is a great place to start. The padded seat cushion and backrest offer the right degree of resilience to be comfortable while still remaining firm enough to give your spine and hips support, keeping the strain off of them and encouraging healthier posture and better blood flow, so you won’t have to worry about your circulation getting cut off, or stiff joints from compressed muscles.
A cushy but supportive lumbar support cushion helps maintain the natural curvature of your lower spine, keeping pressure off the lower back, while the waterfall edge of the chair helps maintain healthy blood circulation and prevents leg fatigue. Adjustable height settings ensure you don’t end up putting strain on your hips and knees – you can work out the appropriate seat height for you, where your knees are level with or just a little above your hips, to keep the pressure off your lower body, while not being so high that your feet dangle off the ground without support, or so low that your knees are hunched up and leave you struggling and potentially hurting yourself as you attempt to hoist yourself out of the chair.
The reclining feature of the chair is also extremely handy, letting you tip the backrest at an angle to take the pressure off your spine and joints as you take a phone call or simply indulge in a cup of coffee in between work. Padded armrests let you settle back with your shoulders level, padded upper back cushions helping keep your neck and shoulders sprain-free. The leather and mesh combination of this chair is another feature we love – with better breathability, you can remain cool in this classy and comfy seat as you work away.
Maneuverability is an extremely important aspect of picking the right chair when you have hip arthritis, since you want to be able to access the different parts of your desk and office without straining yourself, and this chair comes with smooth rolling and heavy-duty nylon wheels coated with polyurethane to give you better mobility in your office, a huge plus in our books.
KEN’S BUDGET PICK
Ergonomic Office Chair, High Back Desk Chair, Swivel Mesh
If you’re looking for a chair with a little bit of a vibrant personality – and a great value-for-money price-tag – this snazzy red-black synthetic leather seat may be the one for you. Great for personalized or home office spaces – and of course for the gamer’s den – this chair gives you all-around mobility with 360° swivel and smooth-rolling caster wheels, so you can access different parts of your office without having to twist up your joints or hurt yourself reaching for anything. The chair can also be rocked back into a reclining position, perfect for catching a bit of rest and give the lower body muscles and joints working to keep you upright a break at healthy intervals.
The firm but comfortable padding of the seat and backrest, as well as the subtle curvature that molds to and supports the spine and keeps pressure off your back and hips, are brilliant features helping this chair live up to the ‘Ergonomic’ in its name. With an adjustable seat height range between 18 to 21 inches, you also get to raise or lower the chair to make sure your knees and lower body are getting the proper support so you can comfortably sit and get up.
RUNNER-UP
Sleekform Ergonomic Kneeling Chair
Unorthodox though it may seem, kneeling chairs are specifically designed to realign your body and distribute pressure the way it’s meant to be distributed, keeping strain off the places you’d typically overuse when sitting in your average office or desk chair. Note that while this chair is not recommended for anyone experiencing arthritis or other joint-related pain in the knees, the unit is nonetheless designed to intuitively take the pressure off your lower torso and lower body, the ninety-degree angled seat cushion keeping your spine naturally aligned.
The foam-filled cushions are just plushy enough to prevent your knees or bottom feeling sore from extended periods of use, but also firm enough to ensure that you don’t sink into them and have struggle to get off later. An adjustable height range between 21 to 28 inches also lets you settle on the height most comfortable to you.
RUNNER-UP
La-Z-Boy Delano Big & Tall Executive Bonded Leather Office Chair
Oozing both sophisticated style and comfort, this multiple foam layered, bonded leather upholstered chair is great for both work and play. The padded back and head rests are strategically situated to support the natural curves of the body to keep it properly aligned and take the edge off your pressure points, memory foam padding molding to the contours of your body and helping support your back and hips. Adjustable height and tilt settings let you work out the right angle and seat height to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground to keep the pressure off your lower body or alternatively to recline and give your spine and joints some time off, while the waterfall edge of the seat ensures healthy circulation and minimizes pain.