Whilst many steer well clear of gaming chairs when it comes to their home needs, maybe they shouldn’t. The gaming chair is much more than just a vessel for relaxing whilst playing your favorite game.
Then, besides being used for gaming, how do gaming chairs help? The following post will take a closer look at some other benefits gaming chairs offer.
Gaming chairs are in fact good for your back, especially relative to the cheaper office or task chairs. They are designed with long periods of comfortable sitting in mind means they’re better for your back than many options.
Gaming chairs bring a lot in terms of supporting your back, aligning your posture, and preventing back pain. Bucket seats can be useful in terms of aligning you from the base of the spine.
Often, gaming chairs sport a lumbar support pillow to support your lower back. The lower part of your spine has a natural inward curvature. Sitting for extended periods tires out your muscles as they hold the spine in this alignment, causing slouching, and making you lean forward in your chair. Ultimately, the pressure in the lumbar region builds up, causing back pain. A lumbar support pillow takes the burden off these muscles and your lower back. Also, it fills the space between your lower back and backrest, preventing you from slouching while working or gaming.
Extra padding in the seat also often fights the spinal pressure of long spells of sitting. And a high degree of back recline can take the pressure of the discs in your spine, to give you periods of relief throughout the day.
Are Gaming Chairs Good for Your Posture?
Overall, gaming chairs align your spine in relatively good posture and minimize your likelihood of pain. They're excellent for your posture.
Firstly, they generally cradle you in a bucket seat, which means you’re rarely slumping forward, especially to use a keyboard or mouse. That fights curvature at the top of the spine, with its resulting neck and shoulder pain.
Second, they usually come with lumbar support, neck support, and headrests, which maintain the right angles of the spine all the way down. A good gaming chair helps to maintain the correct posture. When your head is correctly positioned, the strain is taken off your neck. Also, a properly aligned spine reduces back pain. As with everything though, correct use is important in getting the most ‘back-benefit’ out of your gaming chair. Ideally, don’t be tempted to cross your legs. Use a footrest when reclining, so as not to force undue strain up your legs, and so on.
Are Gaming Chairs Good for Sciatica?
Sciatica is a collection of symptoms including pain, numbness, and tingling emanating from the sciatic nerve and spreading out into the hips, the back, and the outer legs.
Getting a gaming chair can help with the symptoms of sciatica - but it has to be the right gaming chair. A gaming chair that can recline and include solid lumbar support is the best option for those dealing with sciatica. That will take the pressure of long-term sitting off your spine, and stop that pressure from being funneled towards your sciatic nerve. While a chair won’t heal your back pain - only stretching and physical activity will do that - it can prevent your pain from getting worse.
If you can find one that also gives you adjustable height and armrests, you’ll be a long way towards alleviating sciatic pain, because you’ll be minimizing the pressure on the lower back and maximizing your posture support.
Are Gaming Chairs Good for Office?
Ergonomic studies suggest that at lower budgets, gaming chairs blow office chairs out of the water in terms of long-term comfort and ergonomic support. Everything from a high degree of recline to take the pressure off the discs in your back, to headrests to support your spinal positioning allow for greater long-term office comfort in a standard gaming chair than in a standard office chair. Add in more adjustable armrests and external lumbar support and the gaming chair looks like a champion.
When you start going up the budgetary scale though, custom-designed office chairs claw back some ground. Elements like waterfall seating - as opposed to the bucket seats in most gaming chairs - give better ergonomic support.
In short, then, gaming chairs are great for office work on a budget, but if you have enough budget, a better-designed office chair wins.
Are Gaming Chairs Good for Studying?
Gaming chairs can be great for studying, because they combine the best of both worlds - upright comfort, so you’re not putting undue pressure on any part of your body, and you’re also not lying down, encouraging lethargy and mental drift.
Quite apart from anything else, gaming chairs are designed for an activity that involves concentration and engagement. The lumbar support and padded seat keep you comfortable, but the adjustable height and armrests keep you focused on the material you need to study.
As and when you need a brain-refresher, simply tilt the chair back to ensure your back relaxes completely so you can either have a brief mind-wipe or better still, challenge yourself to recite as much as you’ve learned.