What’s the best chair for someone with neck pain?

Customer: What chair do you recommend for my neck pain?

C.C. (Colm Campbell): The best type of chair, particularly for you with a neck problem, is a recliner. It’s really three chairs in one. You probably sit upright then, like the majority of men, after a period of time you get uneasy and start shifting from one buttock to the next until eventually your bottom moves forward in the seat and away from any support in your lumbar spine. This position puts great stress on your neck.

clifton2Customer: How the hell do you know that?

C.C.: I’ve been observing this for many years. Most women can sit for several hours at a time without moving. Men start fidgeting about after a much shorter period.

Customer: Why?

C.C.: I think women have better designed undercarriages. Anyway, when you get the squirming urge, in a recliner you just simply tilt the chair back. This relieves the uneasy feeling by transferring pressure to a different part of your body. And so on.

Customer: Yeah. But hang on. By doing this isn’t the S tilted to a different angle?

graph from a swedish studyC.C.: Without sounding condescending, that’s a very intelligent question. You’re absolutely right. But look at the Swedish diagram again. The more you go to a reclining position the less the stress becomes. With the recliners we make, as you move from one position to the next, the spine and thighs are fixed. They don’t move relative to each other. So no matter how you sit you are always in the S position.

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What’s the best angle to sit at?

Customer: What’s the best angle to sit at to prevent back pain?

C.C. (Colm Campbell): It depends on what you are doing. An office chair would be at five degrees back from the vertical (95 degrees) because it’s a working chair. I wouldn’t make you a chair for the home at this rake. It’s too upright. The tendency would be for you to slump forward into the dreaded C position. The average home chair would be 10 degrees back from the vertical (100 degrees). There are exceptions of course. I recently made an office chair for a Professor of Anatomy. She can only sit without pain when the rake is at 85 (five degrees forward of the vertical).

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Mooney Goes Wild, RTE Radio

Colm Campbell and Aoife O’Neill tell us how to cope with back pain.

Read more about the interview here on RTE website

Or listen to the show by following the link.

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Getting back to basics on pain

The Irish Times – Tuesday, October 17, 2006

80 per cent of the global population suffers from back pain at some stage in their lives, write Áine Kerr  Engineer has developed self-help approach to easing back ache and improving posture.

Back pain is the world’s second-most common source of pain, with 80 per cent of the worldwide population estimated to suffer from back pain at some stage in their lives.

Read the full article on the Irish Times website.

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Orthopaedic liner on my car seat

The Irish Times – Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Recently on holidays, I rented a Renault Twingo – and was impressed by the quality of the seating. Returning home, I became acutely aware of the less than adequate support of my more up-market car. My physiotherapist claims it is a frequent problem irrespective of the model of car….

Unfortunately there does not appear to be a comprehensive rating system for car seats. The only one we’ve heard of is the German organisation, Aktion Gesunder Rücken, which some time ago rated the seats in the Audi A4 very highly. Just from personal experience, we’ve found the new Peugeot 407 to be quite comfortable.

However, Colm Campbell of the Back Shop in Dublin, claims that there’s no such thing as a decent car seat these days. He describes most car seats as “appalling”: “Car seats are getting worse for people over 5 ft 11′ or 6 ft.”

Read the full article on the Irish Times website »

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A man with lots of backbone

The Irish Independent – Sunday June 29 2003

OFFICIALLY, I have disastrous posture. This is according to Colm Campbell, owner of The Back Shop. The news doesn’t really surprise me as I do most of my work on a laptop while slumped comfortably in an armchair, in bed or on a sofa.
None of these sitting positions is what I would have thought of as ideal for my health, but Colm insists that they are not only not contributing to the health of my spine, they are actively causing it to deteriorate. He is prepared to back up this alarming news (if you’ll pardon the pun).

Read the full article on the Irish Independent website »

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Time to review our ideas about car seats

The Irish Times – Wednesday, May 29, 2002

BACK PAIN: The human back is a complex matter. Life in general, and driving in particular, puts great strains on it. Susan Jones  ponders the issues

Back pain ranks as second only to headaches as the most frequent pain location, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website. It can occur for no apparent reason and at any point in your spine, but the most common site for pain is your lower back, because it bears the most weight and stress.

Read the full article on the Irish Times website »

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  • The Unique ZS Chair

    • Speeds recovery: medical problems, sports injuries.
    • Eliminates gravity the main cause of back pain.
    • Guarantees perfect posture.
    • Most comfortable chair ever.
    ZS Chair
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