The Takeaway:
1. Ergonomic: Steelcase Leap
2. Massage + Heat: Flash Furniture BT-7672
3. Comfort: Serta Tranquility
4. Alternative: Salli Multi Adjuster
When we began conducting our research for this roundup review, we quickly discovered that since there are several different things that can cause hip pain, and since arthritis can strike anywhere in the body, rather than compiling a single “best” list, our best bet would be to identify the best general strategies for dealing with hip and arthritis pain, then search for office chairs that were especially good fits for people pursuing that particular strategy.
We identified four different ways of tackling the problem:
Having done that, we then went in search of the best office chairs for use in pursuit of each of the strategies we identified.
The search was long, and some of the choices were agonizing, but in the end, we narrowed the field to a selection of finalists in each group until we had our winners. We listed them above and will tell you more about the chairs they competed with.
Before getting into the particulars of our roundup review and selection criteria, we have to spend a few minutes talking about hip and arthritis pain.
About Hip & Arthritis Pain
While there are several things that can cause or lead to hip pain, the more common culprits are things like:
Unfortunately, as we mentioned at the start, there’s no one “best office chair for bad hips” because there are many different strategic approaches a person could take in terms of dealing with the problem. Ultimately then, it comes down to which strategy you want to pursue.
Our overview tables outline the strategies we’ve identified, and our selection criteria for each table and strategy vary accordingly. Here’s a quick overview:
Our Selection Criteria
In this group, we’re looking for two things: as many adjustable ergonomic features as we can find, and good synergy in feature implementation. Of special importance are things like:
And of course, as many other ergonomic features as we can get, but since your hips are connected to your spine, it’s vital that the ergonomic office chair you pick provide excellent support not just for your legs and glutes but your spine as well.
Comfort is a secondary condition here. Obviously, the more comfortable a chair is, the better. Still, we didn’t deduct points from chairs in this category if they weren’t outfitted with luxurious amounts of padding in one form or another.
Note: If you’re looking for the best office chair after hip replacement surgery, it will probably be somewhere in this category or the alternative seating category. While you may be tempted to pick something from the Comfort Collection, that will only be helpful in the short term.
While you’ll undoubtedly feel better sitting on the plush cushions offered by the chairs in that part of the list, the higher degree of ergonomic adjustability found in this part of the review will do more for your back, hips, and posture in general, which will almost always yield better long-term results.
For chairs in this category, the main feature we focused on was the strength and versatility of the heat and massage function. It should be noted that none of the chairs on this list are true, full-fledged massage chairs, so it’s important to set expectations on this front.
It would be a mistake to believe that any of the chairs listed here can give you anything approaching the kind of massage you could get from a proper massage chair. Then again, some of those cost thousands of dollars, and none of them are suitable for pulling up to your desk to get any work done.
These chairs then occupy a middle ground. They need to be comfortable enough that you won’t mind sitting in them, have at least a few ergonomic features, and have a good enough massage and heat function to help relieve your pain.
Sometimes you just want to be comfortable enough to get through the day. You don’t care about heat (or you plan on bringing your trusty heating pad to your home or work office anyway), and you’re skeptical as to whether all the ergonomic features in the world will make much of a difference, you just want to sit on a soft, cloud-like chair so you can get something done.
Ergonomic features are still somewhat important in this group, but adjustability doesn’t play nearly as big a role.
Obviously, ergonomic factors are still somewhat important because they help further enhance the overall comfort of the chair, but here, it’s the comfort itself that takes center stage.
The chairs in this group aren’t, technically speaking, chairs at all, but stools and other forms of alternative seating that rely on cutting-edge ergonomic design techniques but take very different forms than the conventional office chair.
There’s a lot to choose from in the alternative seating market, but in terms of managing and reducing hip pain, there’s just one thing to talk about: The saddle stool. The simple truth is that all by itself, the design of a saddle-style seat will do a lot of good for people who suffer from chronic hip pain, regardless of what’s causing it.
The reason has everything to do with the shape of the saddle-style seat. The open hip angle takes immediate pressure off of your joints and improves circulation, both of which serve to reduce pain.
In addition to that, most office seating alternatives serve to strengthen your core muscles in the long term, in addition to being much harder types of office seating to cheat or slouch in. Better posture and a stronger core translate into better overall health and improved circulation, which means less pain.
If you’ve tried several office chairs and found them to be wanting, and if you’re ready and willing to think outside the box to find a seating solution that works for them. There’s a good cross-section of products here, and all of them are interesting, but this is probably the most self-selecting category of the bunch.
Either you’re in the market for an alternative to conventional office seating and willing to give it a try, or you’re not. If not, then none of the glowing things we say about the products here are likely to change your mind. If you are, then this section will probably wind up being your favorite part of this roundup review.
Best Office Chairs for Hip Pain 2024 – Ergonomic Collection
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Our Pick
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4.7
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4.6
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4.5
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$1,299.00
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$2,099.99
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$1,454.99
|
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24.8” x 27” x 43.5”
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28” x 27” x 38.2”
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28.2” x 28.2” x 43”
|
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48 pounds
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51 pounds
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43 pounds
|
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300 pounds
Steelcase Plus supports up to 500 pounds |
300 pounds
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325 pounds
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15.5” to 20.5”
Plus is identical here |
16.5” to 22”
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A: range is 14.75” to 19”
B: range is 16” to 20.5” C: range is 16” to 20.5” |
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20”
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20”
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20.25”
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15.75” to 18.75”
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15” to 18”
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A = 16”
B = 16.75” C = 18.5” |
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90 to 120 degrees
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90 to 135 degrees
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90 to 135 degrees
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Recommended without reservation. In our view, this is the best office chair on the market today.
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Recommended, provided you’re a fan of the chair’s vaguely futuristic aesthetic.
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Recommended. If the Leap isn’t a good fit for you for any reason, this is a good alternative.
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Steelcase Plus supports up to 500 pounds
Plus is identical here
- Arguably the most adjustable, customizable chair on the market today. Also offered in a range of color and upholstery options with extras available! A full suite of highly adjustable and ergonomic features.
- Expensive. Can take a long time to optimize the chair for maximum ergonomic benefit. Some users will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of adjustable features.
- Optimized for gamers and other power users. Highly adjustable and offered in a modest selection of colors and upholstery options.
- Expensive. Can take a long time to optimize the chair for maximum ergonomic benefit. Some users will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of adjustable features. The aesthetic might be off-putting to some.
B: range is 16” to 20.5”
C: range is 16” to 20.5”
B = 16.75”
C = 18.5”
- Herman Miller’s original flagship office chair. A venerable model kept lovingly up to date with all the latest ergonomic technology.
- Pricey. And it’s a mesh chair, which some people don’t like.
*While aesthetics is a matter of taste, aesthetic flexibility is a measure of how easily a given design would fit into a wide range of home or office décor schemes.
**Brand Reliability is a measure of the strength and longevity of the brand, which by extension, is a measure of the level of support you can expect.
Our Pick: Steelcase Leap
Recommended For: Anyone, especially for people who suffer from chronic back pain.
Not only is the Steelcase leap the best office chair for lower back and hip pain, it’s the best office chair on the market today, period. It’s simply an amazing example of excellence in design. Before we get into the particulars of this chair, we should point out that Steelcase has an entire line of products all bearing the Leap name. These include the office chair we’re talking about here, a big and tall version called the Leap Plus, and a stool and Work Lounge.
The Leap and Leap plus are virtually identical, with the key difference being that the frame of the Leap Plus has been ruggedized and can support more user weight. If the weight allowance of the standard Leap isn’t enough for you, upgrade to the Leap Plus. Although this short review is about the standard chair, virtually all the particulars will apply to the Leap Plus.
Chair Specifications
With that said, let’s begin by reviewing the basic stats of the chair:
Adjustable and Customizable
The first thing that jumps out at us is the fact that almost every aspect of this chair can be tweaked and adjusted. That’s great news for anyone who buys one because it gives you the ability to fine-tune the chair so it fits you perfectly.
The tradeoff, of course, is that when you get the chair put together, it may not be an ideal fit for you initially. It’ll be more of a work in progress that will require some time and experimentation to get right. It is; however, time well spent, and if you’re willing to take the time to do the fine-tuning, you’ll find this to be an amazing chair. Honestly, once you own one of these, you won’t know how you ever got along without it!
Even better, you’ll actually start customizing your Leap chair before you get it home. Ordering one is a bit of an adventure in its own right because you have a variety of upholstery and finishing options to select from. Rather than recreating the full list here, we’ll simply refer you to the in-depth review we’ve done of this chair (see link at the end of this review).
Aesthetics & Design
The sheer adjustability outlined above makes this chair worth the asking price, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. See, the Leap was designed with a very specific philosophy. The design team used the following discoveries to guide the development of the chair:
Powerfully Implemented Ergonomic Features
Adjustability is all well and good, but the Leap is much more than just a well-designed, well-built chair. The waterfall edge-style seat is superb and provides genuine pain relief to people who suffer from chronic hip and leg pain, whatever the source.
The lumbar support is highly adjustable too, which provides exceptional support all by itself but is made even better thanks to a proprietary technology Steelcase has named “Live Back.” The chair’s back features a slatted design that moves with you as you change your position in your seat. It always provides precisely the amount of support you need, exactly where you need it.
Even better, a pair of dials on the chair allow you to adjust the tension in the upper and lower portions of the seatback independently. This allows you to increase or decrease the level of support the chair provides until it’s perfect for you.
Of course, this too, takes time and experimentation, and until you get it dialed into your personal preferences, your experience with the chair may be suboptimal.
Add-Ons
If you like, you can even get ergonomic head and neck support, although you’ll have to order the headrest separately. Steelcase offers a small number of high-value add-ons, including their well-designed headrest and a small, ergonomic ottoman that can pull double duty as a low-slung worktable if you want.
The ottoman is another excellent piece of optional gear, especially for those who suffer from chronic hip and leg pain, taking advantage of the chair’s maximum recline angle of 120 degrees.
Bottom Line
While it’s certainly possible to find other office chairs on the market that feature more luxuriant padding, the Leap is the best-designed ergonomic chair on the market today. It’s got an impressive suite of ergonomic features and an equally impressive warranty, plus add-ons, extras, and plenty of customization options when you order your chair.
The only two drawbacks are these:
First, it’s expensive, which may put it out of reach of many people who need its ergonomic excellence the most.
Second, this is a very fiddly chair. When you first sit down in it, it won’t provide optimal support for you. You can get it to that point, but there’s a time investment involved. The more time you spend on it, the better the chair becomes.
Runner-Up: Herman Miller Embody
Recommended For: Anyone, especially those who work long hours at the desk.
If you like furniture that has a vaguely futuristic look and feel, then you’re going to fall in love with the Herman Miller Embody at first sight. Depending on who you ask, it’s either the best or the second-best office chair on the market today.
In our view, the Leap narrowly edges it out, but there can be no denying that the Embody is an exceptional piece of office furniture. Before we get into the particulars, we’ll post the chair’s basic stats here by way of review.
Chair Specifications
Adjustability
The Embody is every bit as adjustable as the Leap, and it has a slightly greater maximum recline angle. Like the Leap, Herman Miller opted for a “one size fits all” philosophy when designing the chair. One advantage to that approach is that if there are multiple people in your house, and they’ll all be using the chair, they can tweak it to be a perfect fit for them.
The downside to that is that, like the Leap, in order to get the most out of this chair, you’re going to need to invest some time tweaking the settings to be perfect for you. If other people are using the chair, they’re invariably going to change your preferred settings, and you’ll spend an excessive amount of time setting them back. That can be an uphill battle, so both this chair and the Leap are better as one-owner chairs, even though their versatility makes it possible for them to serve many owners.
Customization
When you order your Embody, you will have a few customization options that allow you to pick from a small assortment of fabrics and colors. The number of choices on offer isn’t as extensive as what you get when you order a Leap, but it’s certainly not bad, and it gives you at least some freedom and flexibility to truly make the chair your own. The real magic happens when it actually arrives at your door and you get it put together.
Ergonomic Features
The first thing to draw your attention to is probably the first thing you’ll notice when you put the chair together. The Embody has its own fully articulated spine running up the length of the seatback, which they call “BackFit.”
Where the Leap uses a slatted seatback design, the Embody takes a very different approach but has the same basic goal in mind. The chair’s spine is a crucial bit of technology. It can be set to be inflexible, providing a straight seatback if that’s your preference, or it can be set to flex and move in tandem with you as you shift your position in the chair.
When set to this position, it acts a lot like the Leap’s “Live Back” technology, providing an optimal level of support for you precisely when and where you need support. As with the Leap, this chair also gives you controls that allow you to adjust the amount of “give” in the chair’s spine, giving you the means to control the amount of resistance the seatback offers you as you’re sitting in it.
While it’s true that the Embody does not allow you to adjust the position of the lumbar support, based on the strength of the BackFit technology, we’re not sure if doing so would yield any additional benefit. As it is, the amount of support you get from the chair is perfect. If lumbar height adjustment added anything at all to the equation, it would be an almost immeasurably small amount, in our view.
BackFit is the standout feature, but the waterfall edge-style seat is also incredibly well-rendered and is of genuine benefit to anyone suffering from hip or leg pain arising from any source.
From a sheer adjustability point of view, you’ll also love that the armrests are both independently height and width adjustable, allowing you the freedom to work (or play!) in the chair in ways that other models can’t match.
Bottom Line
While the Leap chair was designed purely conventional and aimed at the corporate market, the Embody almost cries out for home use, especially among the gaming set. Honestly, any power user will get a lot of mileage out of a chair like this. It’s comfortable; it’s got an impressive suite of ergonomic features and truly innovative proprietary technology.
Herman Miller has a lot of faith in the design (as evidenced by its impressive warranty), and with proper care, it’s sure to provide you with years of reliable service. A great design offered by a World-Class company.
Value Pick: Herman Miller Aeron
Recommended For: Anyone. A solid, venerable ergonomic chair.
The Aeron is a venerable model that’s been part of Herman Miller’s product family for years. The company has worked hard to keep it up to date, and they’ve generally done a good job on that front. While it’s true that newer models have eclipsed it, this is still a serious office chair and remains, to this day, one of the best on the market.
As we’ve done with the other models we’ve looked at so far, let’s quickly review the Aeron’s basic stats to get us started.
Chair Specifications
One thing that jumps out at you right away when you look at the numbers is that the Aeron is designed along very different lines than our top two picks for this category.
Where the top two chairs utilize a “one size fits all” approach, the Aeron is more granular, with three different models available: A (small), B (medium), and C (large).
There are trade-offs when using this approach.
On the plus side, by breaking the design into three different models, the Aeron avoids the problem of ‘adjustability overload’ that our top picks suffer from. With so many adjustable features, it can leave the owners of the Leap and the Embody feeling overwhelmed. There’s too much to do, and too many features to adjust.
While the Aeron at least partially dodges that problem, it introduces another. Before you buy one of these, you’ll have to do some homework. That homework takes the form of having to take careful measurements so you can be sure you’re getting the model that fits you best.
Overall, our preference is for the one size fits all approach because it gives you a more robust and versatile chair, but we understand that opinions will vary, so we were pleased that the Aeron made our list of finalists as it presents a very different option that will appeal to a different set of potential buyers.
Comfort
In terms of comfort, the Aeron lags slightly behind because it is a mesh chair.
Mesh chairs are fabulous, and they certainly have their fans because they’re durable and breathable. As such, they’re awesome choices for power users, but there’s a catch. Most people regard mesh chairs as not being as attractive as their upholstered counterparts, and since they don’t have padding, they aren’t quite as comfortable, either.
If you like mesh chairs and that’s what you want, then the Aeron belongs at the top of your list. If you’re not a fan, it doesn’t matter how well the chair ranks; you’re not likely to be swayed.
Adjustability
Where adjustability is concerned, again, we find that the Aeron lags behind our top contenders. In this case, that’s partly explained by the fact that this chair uses three different models instead of a single, highly adjustable model.
Ergonomic Features
Like our top picks, the Aeron has a suite of well-implemented ergonomic features, and it too, utilizes some terrific proprietary technology. Where the Leap has its “LiveBack,” and the Embody has “BackFit,” the Aeron has something called “PostureFit SL.” The ‘SL’ in the name stands for sacral and lumbar, which refers to your mid-back and lower back, respectively.
Thanks to the PostureFit technology, the seatback’s upper and lower sections move independently, each providing optimal levels of dynamic support as you move in the chair.
On top of this, the Aeron features a superb lumbar support system that allows you to adjust the tension and, thus, the level of support it provides. One limitation of the Aeron’s lumbar implementation, however, is that you can’t change the height of the lumbar support.
As with our top contenders, the Aeron also features a well-designed waterfall edge-style seat, so it’s great for people with poor circulation in their lower extremities. Although the benefits of the seat are somewhat limited by the aforementioned lack of padding.
In addition to that, the Aeron can recline back to a maximum of 135 degrees. This model takes a more simplified approach to the recline function, however. Rather than having unlimited freedom to set your recline angle, the Aeron comes with three presets: Upright (90 degrees), Recline (120 degrees), and full recline (135 degrees).
Opinions will vary on this point, but in our view, having presets here feels a bit over-engineered to us. 90-135 degrees isn’t a vast recline range, to begin with, but we understand the intent, and there will undoubtedly be people who like the feature very much.
Finally, the armrests of the Aeron are highly adjustable, which is more important than most people realize. We love that you can independently adjust the height of each armrest and pivot it inward or outward, depending on your preference.
Bottom Line
The Aeron isn’t as robust or adjustable as the more modern Embody. It’s also a mesh chair. Those two things are sure to put at least some people off. On the other hand, it’s still an incredibly versatile design, and it’s the best mesh office chair being sold today. Combine those two things with the fact that it costs less than our top picks, and this model has a lot to like. We recommend it but acknowledge that it won’t be right for everyone.
Also Great: Steelcase Amia
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a great mesh office chair, or anyone who wants most of the features of our top picks, without having to pay full price.
The Amia occupies the same space in the Steelcase product lineup as the Aeron occupies in Herman Miller’s product lineup. It was the predecessor to their world-famous Leap chair. This older model has been eclipsed by the more modern Leap, but the Amia is still a serious contender and, to this day, one of the best chairs on the market.
Chair Specifications
Here are a few basic stats on the chair to get us started:
With an adjustable seat depth, a good height adjustment range and a 300-pound weight limit, the Amia is a good fit for the vast bulk of the market.
As with the Leap chair, when you place your order, you’ll be presented with a variety of color and finish options, which gives you a tremendous amount of freedom when it comes to customizing and personalizing your chair, making it that much easier to blend it in seamlessly with your prevailing home or office décor scheme.
Adjustability, Comfort, and Ergonomics
The Amia is reasonably well-padded with conventional block foam, but the padding is only one part of the comfort equation. While this chair isn’t quite as adjustable as the Leap, there’s still much to like here. You’ll find that you can adjust:
Like the chairs we’ve talked about to this point, the Amia also sports some impressive proprietary technology, taking the form of “Live Lumbar” in this instance.
Similar to the Leap chair, the seatback is composed of a series of slats that move independently as you change your position in the seat, which provides dynamic support as you change position, and the amount of support the seatback provides can be adjusted via a dial on the chair itself. Again, it takes some experimentation to optimize if for you, but it’s time well spent.
Bottom Line
The Amia is an older model, but as Herman Miller has done with the Aeron, SteelCase has worked hard to keep it up to date. Although the Leap is technically the better chair, this model is certainly no slouch and remains, to this day, one of the best on the market.
If you’re looking for a world-class office chair loaded with cutting-edge features but your budget won’t support getting either the Leap or the Embody, this is a superb option. You’ll love it, and once you get the settings optimized for how you sit in and use the chair, you’ll feel better too.
Honorable Mention: Ergohuman High Back
Recommended For: Anyone. This is a solid chair by any reckoning.
Ergohuman isn’t as big or as well-known as Steelcase and Herman Miller, the two companies that utterly dominate this part of our roundup review, but they make incredibly good office furniture. So good, in fact, that they offer a lifetime warranty on every office chair they sell.
If that didn’t get your attention, then the rest of this overview about the Ergohuman High Back certainly will! Before we dive into the specifics, however, let’s begin as we have been, with a review of the chair’s basic stats.
Chair Specifications
Given the numbers above, this chair is a good fit for the vast majority of the market, although shorter people may not be able to use the chair, even when it’s set to its lowest seat height.
Aesthetics & Design
It’s not an ugly chair, but it is rather unusual looking, given its segmented design. Assuming that you’re okay with the chair’s aesthetic, you’ll find a lot to love about it, starting with the fact that you can order it any way you like.
Do you want a mesh chair? Ergohuman has you covered? Would you prefer leather or fabric upholstery? Done. Do you want a few different color options? You can have that, too.
Extras & Add-Ons
On top of that, while many other companies (SteelCase included) offer a few interesting accessories, Ergohuman takes things to the next level. They offer a vast array of “extras,” which enables you to customize your office chair in ways that no other company can come close to matching.
Some of them are smaller finishing touches like adding a cup holder, which is cool, and a nice touch, but it doesn’t rewrite the office chair paradigm. Others, however, really change the game. Imagine adding a powerful articulated arm to your chair that’s capable of holding a laptop, allowing you to work in an entirely new way. PC on your desk, laptop hovering on the articulated arm – it unlocks doors you may not have ever even imagined.
Ergonomic Features
Although the Ergohuman doesn’t feature any advanced proprietary technology like our top picks offer, it has the basics well covered.
Lumbar Support
There’s a reason for the chair’s unusual design, and it has a lot to do with the implementation of its ergonomic features. By separating the seatback into two pieces, it allows the company to implement an adjustable lumbar support system without impacting the upper half of the seatback.
Sculpted Seat
In addition to the company’s exceptionally well-implemented lumbar support, the Ergohuman offers an ergonomically sculpted seat that helps to improve circulation in the lower extremities of whoever is sitting in the chair, and the upper segment of the seatback features a fully articulated headrest for neck and back support.
Adjustable Armrests
Although the chair’s armrests aren’t ergonomically sculpted, they are magnificently adjustable. Not only can you set the height of each arm independently, but you can also swivel them up to 45 degrees in either direction (in, toward the center of the chair, or out and away from it) depending on what your needs of the moment are.
Recline Function
Finally, the chair reclines back to a maximum of 135 degrees, giving you plenty of flexibility when shifting your position throughout the day. Unlike most office chairs, this one has three preset recline angles. At the touch of a button, you can select from 90, 120, or 135 degrees.
We’re sure there will be people who like the approach, but it feels overdone to us. One hundred thirty-five degrees isn’t a huge recline angle anyway, and our preference is to have unlimited freedom to select and set our own, precise recline angle, rather than relying on a mere three presets, but we understand the design decision.
Normally, the angle of recline isn’t a huge selling point on an office chair, but in the case of the Ergohuman, it is (or can be) compelling. After all, the company sells those fun extras and add-ons, making it possible to work just as productively while in a reclined position as you can when sitting up straight. In this chair, reclining back doesn’t necessarily mean you’re taking a break!
Bottom Line
The Ergohuman High Back is cheaper than our top picks, and while it does lack some of the more advanced ergonomic features, it makes up for the loss in other ways. The company selling the chair is a breed apart, and they make outstanding office furniture, as evidenced by the lifetime warranty which, by the way, is even more impressive than the warranties offered by either Herman Miller or Steelcase.
While it’s not readily obvious, the other reason for the chair’s curious segmented design is that if any part of the chair wears out, it’s simple to replace just that part. That comes in handy, given the chair’s lifetime warranty, as mentioned above. This is literally the last office chair you’ll ever need to buy.
As good as all of that is, however, it’s the accessories that will wind up being the deciding factor for most people — the reason for choosing this model over some other. There are just so many of them, and they’re really, insanely good. Even better, the company adds new goodies regularly.
This chair is ideal for tinkerers and do-it-yourselfers. Our recommendation would be to buy the stock model and use it as is for a month or two to get a feel for it. Then, head to the Ergohuman website and start browsing accessories, thinking about how you currently use the chair and how you’d like to, acquiring accessories that are of the highest value to you. This is truly a one-of-a-kind chair offered by a one-of-a-kind company. We recommend it.
Best Office Chairs for Arthritis Sufferers 2024 – Massage + Heat Collection
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Our Pick
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3.9
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3.8
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3.7
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$352.28
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N/A
|
$147.99
|
|
29.5” x 30.5” x 42"
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26.1” x 31.1” x 43.3” to 47.2”
|
28” x 25” x 49.5” to 53”
|
|
54 pounds
|
38.6 pounds
|
46 pounds
|
|
250 pounds
|
300 pounds
|
250 pounds
|
|
19.5” (non-adjustable)
|
19.6” to 23.5”
|
18.5” to 22”
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Recommended for light to moderate daily use.
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Heat is the standout feature. Recommended for light to moderate daily use, especially for arthritis sufferers.
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Massage is the standout feature. Recommended for light to moderate daily use.
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- Waterfall-edge style seat, lumbar support, head and neck support. Surprisingly good vibration style massage, lumbar heat.
- Bonded leather upholstery wears quickly, no rolling casters. No adjustable features (other than massage).
- Waterfall-edge style seat, lumbar support, head and neck support. Surprisingly versatile massage function. Heat EVERYWHERE, which is this chair’s best feature.
- PU upholstery, lightly constructed. Doesn’t stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use. PU and heat are a poor combination of features.
- Padded ergonomic headrest and pillow, static lumbar support, waterfall-edge style seat, insanely good 4D armrests, exceptional massage, given the tech
- Non-adjustable ergonomic support, PU upholstery paired with heat is suboptimal. Doesn’t stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use.
Our Pick: Flash Furniture BT-7672
Recommended For: Anyone, but especially those who suffer from chronic pain or arthritis.
Flash Furniture is a smaller brand, but they’ve got a surprisingly good reputation in the world of office furniture, and their products frequently find their way into our roundup reviews. The only thing that typically keeps them from winning top honors in some categories is the fact that bigger, better-established brands simply have more name recognition and a better track record of post-sales support.
In this instance, however, none of the Titans of the office furniture industry are competing in this segment of the market, so it’s little surprise to us that plucky little Flash Furniture earned top honors in this category.
The BT-7672 occupies a curious space in the industry. It looks like an office chair but also has some features in common with a living room recliner. It’s not perfect, and it’s got a couple of shortcomings that may turn some users off, prompting them to gravitate toward one of the other models on our list of finalists of best office chairs for hip arthritis, but it’s a great chair, offered at a fair price.
Before we dig into the particulars, we’ll start with a quick review of the chair’s basic stats.
Chair Specifications
Based on these stats, a couple of things quickly become apparent. First and foremost, if you’re looking for a chair with adjustable options, this isn’t the one you want.
On the other hand, the seat dimensions and seat height are values that make the chair appealing to a significant chunk of the office chair market, but there’s a catch. The weight limit is a modest 250 pounds. While that’s suitable for smaller and average-sized people, this chair is a poor choice for bigger and taller users.
The BT-7672 is padded with conventional block foam and is upholstered with bonded leather.
Padding
Let’s talk about the padding first. There’s enough of it to make the chair comfortable for a while, but the longer you sit in it, the less comfortable you’ll be.
There’s a good reason, though, for limiting the amount of padding on chairs like these. The massage function, which we’ll talk about in a moment, relies on stationary massage heads. The more padding there is, the weaker the massage function.
Upholstery
As to the upholstery, bonded leather is a step up from PU, which is commonly used on value-priced furniture. It’s real leather, but it’s made by fusing scraps of leather together, which makes it less supple and durable than genuine grain leather.
That makes this model fine for light to moderate daily use, but you’ll find that the upholstery wears quickly if you use it for 8+ hours a day.
The other limitation to consider where bonded leather is concerned is the fact that it’s not breathable. Sit in it for more than a few hours at a time, and you’ll start getting hot and sweaty. That’ll happen more quickly if you activate the chair’s heat function, which is probably the reason you’re considering the model in the first place.
That’s unfortunate, but it certainly doesn’t make the chair unusable. It does, however, reinforce the point that this chair is best suited for light to moderate daily use only. You’ll want to get up periodically throughout the day to let your back breathe.
Ergonomic Features
Fortunately, comfort isn’t defined by padding alone, and the BT-7672 sports a trio of reasonably well-implemented ergonomic features. These are:
While none of these are adjustable in any way, they all work in tandem to enhance the comfort provided by the moderate amount of padding the chair offers, and provided that your measurements and those of the chair wind up being a good fit, provide solid ergonomic support that helps improve your posture and mitigate your aches and pains.
Heat and Massage
None of the above, however, are reasons why you’ll pick this chair over a conventional office chair. It would be easy to find a comparably priced office chair that can match or exceed everything we’ve described so far. This model’s secret weapon is its heat and massage function.
Bear in mind, the massage you can get from this chair is limited by the fact that it utilizes vibrating massage heads that are fixed in their positions. That kind of massage can’t hold a candle to one that’s rendered by quad rollers moving along a massage track, which is typically what you find in full-featured massage chairs.
That’s not to say that the massage you’ll get from this chair is without value. It helps, and it feels good, but it’s important to set your expectations properly. This isn’t a massage chair. It’s an office chair that happens to render a decent massage that will help you feel better.
Massage Presets & Intensity
Flash Furniture did a good job working within the confines of the older tech used to render the massage function, though. On the simple, wired remote, you’ll find nine different massage presets you can choose from and five different levels of intensity.
Granted, the presets are all slight variations of one another. At the root, they’re all still vibration-style massage. Even so, kudos to the design team for going the extra mile and offering as much customization as possible on this front.
In addition to being able to choose from a variety of presets and intensity levels, this chair also allows you to selectively activate the heads. You can get something close to a whole back and thigh massage by activating all six of the heads at once, or you can choose to activate by the following body regions:
That’s all well and good, but the chair’s heat function is far and away, the best feature of this design. While it’s limited to the lumbar region of your back only, it provides fast, soothing relief to chronic pain sufferers, and if your hips are the problem, you’ll feel the warmth radiating from the small of your back to your hips.
Even better, you can activate the heat function independently of the massage function, so if you only want heat, you can have that, and if you want a heated massage, you can have that too.
Bottom Line
This isn’t a highly adjustable, or a particularly well-padded chair. It’s got a suite of basic ergonomic features to augment its modest padding, and a surprisingly good massage and heat function that will provide genuine relief to chronic pain and arthritis sufferers.
As long as you take careful measurements before you purchase this model and ensure that the chair’s a good fit for you, this one can provide genuine therapeutic benefits, help you manage your pain and help make you more productive.
The biggest downsides? It doesn’t support a lot of weight, bonded leather tends to wear quickly, and the chair doesn’t have rolling casters (although it does swivel). If the way you work relies on the presence of rolling casters, you’ll probably be inclined to give this one a pass. Otherwise, it’s a solid option and well worth considering.
Runner-Up: Mecor Heated Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone, but this chair provides tremendous benefits to those who suffer from arthritis and/or chronic pain sufferers.
If you haven’t heard of the Mecor brand before right now, you’re not alone. They’re one of the legions of smaller, off-brands that sell low-priced office furniture imported from China. While Chinese manufacturing has improved greatly in recent years, it’s still not up to Western standards, so the production quality tends to be somewhat lower.
Most of the models sold by these brands are average or below average, but now and then, you find a hidden gem. In our view, the Mecor Heated Office Chair is one of those, and it’s proof positive that Mecor knows their way around the office furniture market.
This chair comes with a few surprises that far outweigh its shortcomings. It is a tremendous value for the money, and we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Before we dive into the particular though, let’s begin with a quick overview.
Chair Specifications
Here are the core stats that define this model:
Right away, you can see a couple of key differences between this chair and the one we just talked about. It supports more weight, is lighter, and is at least nominally more adjustable, with a seat height range that runs well into big and tall territory.
Unfortunately, while the weight limit is better than our top pick, it’s not high enough to be a good big and tall design. For that, it would need to support at least another hundred pounds of user weight. Even so, based on the numbers above, it’s a good fit for the vast majority of the market. Although users who are shorter than about 5’4” will struggle to sit properly in it, even with the seat set to its lowest height setting.
Casters
The other key difference is the fact that this chair is on a five-point base with rolling casters. That’s not absolutely necessary for an office chair, but it comes standard on the vast majority of them, and if you need the added mobility based on how you use your chair for work, you’ll probably prefer this configuration over our top pick.
Upholstery
Unfortunately, it’s upholstered in PU, which is reasonably attractive, but it’s not a breathable material, and it doesn’t age well. If you use this chair lightly or moderately every day, you can expect the upholstery to last about two years. It will start peeling and cracking after about a year of heavy daily use, even if you’re careful with it.
Padding
Like our top pick, the Mecor heated office chair doesn’t boast an inordinate amount of block foam padding. It’s got enough to provide a comfortable seating experience for a few hours at a stretch, but if you sit for longer periods, you’re bound to become increasingly less comfortable as the day grinds on.
The reason for the less-than-abundant padding is the same as we discussed in our notes about the Flash Furniture chair. Too much padding and the massage heads can’t give an effective massage. It’s a tradeoff that comes with the territory in this segment of the market.
Ergonomic Features
In any case, the comfort of the chair is augmented by a reasonably well-implemented lumbar support, a good, double-padded head and neck support pillow, and a waterfall-edge style seat. These aren’t quite as well-implemented on the Mecor as they are on our top pick, but they’re not bad, either.
Massage Function
As with the Flash Furniture chair, the massage function on the Mecor is rendered via six vibrating, stationary massage heads. The company did go to some lengths to maximize the impact of those heads, however, and on the remote, you’ll find the following massage options available:
These are all functionally similar, but we encourage anyone who purchases one of these chairs to experiment with the various modes to see if one of them feels better to you personally than the rest.
By default, all six of the massage heads engage when you activate the massage function. But if you like, you can selectively activate them by body region, choosing from back (meaning mid and upper back), lumbar, and thigh, at your preference.
The Mecor chair isn’t as generous as our top pick when it comes to selecting your massage intensity, only offering two settings (high or low), but that still gives you some ability to customize. One thing the Mecor does better on the massage front, however, is that it allows you to select from either a fifteen-minute, thirty-minute, or a full one-hour massage, which is fantastic!
Heat, Glorious Heat
The big “secret weapon” of this chair though, is its heat function. Whereas most heated chairs, including most heated massage chairs, only offer lumbar heat, the Mecor offers heat everywhere. Activate the function, and you get the glorious benefits of heat in your upper back, lower back and on the backs of your thighs.
This is a superb feature implementation and, in our view, is the main reason to consider buying this model, but it gets even better. You can control the temperature of the offered heat from the remote, selecting between either 60 or 70 degrees (Celsius).
That’s practically unheard of in the industry. In fact, most of the high dollar massage chairs on the market today don’t offer temperature-controlled heat. We were flat-out amazed to see it here, on a chair offered by a tiny brand. Kudos to Mecor for showing the rest of the industry how it’s done!
The one unfortunate drawback to mention here though in our roundup of the best office chairs for arthritis sufferers is the fact that the chair is upholstered in PU, which isn’t breathable. Even without the heat, you’ll find yourself sweating in the chair if you spend more than a few hours in it at a time.
When you activate the heat, and especially if you turn it to the highest temperature setting, you’re going to find yourself getting uncomfortably hot very quickly.
We dearly wish the company had chosen to use fabric upholstery, which would have increased breathability, but PU is less expensive and, in a bid to keep the cost down, that’s what they opted for. We understand the thinking but, in this instance, we regard it as a mistake and a genuine weak point in the design. Nonetheless, the heat function on this chair is glorious and not to be missed! The massage is good but combined with heat everywhere; it will provide you with a solid therapeutic benefit and help ease your pain.
Bottom Line
The “heat everywhere” feature is the best thing about this chair. The massage is okay, it’s moderately comfortable, and it has a few basic, non-adjustable ergonomic features. Given its lightweight construction and PU upholstery, it’s a good choice for light to moderate daily use and a great, outstanding choice for anyone whose primary interest is heat.
Value Pick: Best Massage High Back Executive Massager
Recommended For: Chronic pain sufferers on a budget looking for a basic heated office recliner for light to moderate daily use.
This is another model offered by a smaller, off-brand serving this corner of the office furniture market. It’s a conventionally designed chair, manufactured in China to keep the price delightfully low, and of course, it comes with all the positives and negatives that entails.
On the plus side, you get a decent chair with reasonably well-implemented features you like. On the minus side, it’s created using lower quality materials and of somewhat lesser production quality than the more expensive chairs manufactured in the West. Is it a good trade? Most people think so, which is why these smaller brands do such a brisk business!
Although many chairs produced by these off-brands are average at best, there are a few that rise to the top, and the Best Massage High Back Executive Massager is another example of this. Here are this model’s basic stats.
Chair Specifications
As you can see, it’s designed to appeal to a broad swath of the market, but it’s clearly not for everyone. Although the seat height adjustment range and other measures paint a picture of this chair as being suitable for big and tall users, the modest weight limit reveals that not to be the case.
Still, it’s a good choice for significant portions of the market, although shorter users will have a hard time sitting properly in it. Bigger users won’t be able to use the chair at all on account of the relatively low weight limit.
Adjustability
This model is notable, however, because it’s relatively more adjustable than the others we’ve talked about so far. In addition to being able to adjust the seat height, this chair can be reclined back to a maximum of 135 degrees.
Armrests
Oddly, the armrests of the Best Massage High Back are incredibly good; arguably the best feature on the chair by a wide margin.
Although the armrests are not well-padded, they’re independently height adjustable, they can be slide back and forth along the seat depth of the chair, and they pivot either toward or away from the person sitting in the chair, all in a bid to provide optimal comfort.
Armrest height is more important than you might imagine on office chairs. If the height is improperly set, it can put more strain on your shoulders, which over time, leads to increased tension in the shoulders, upper back, and neck that can cause migraine headaches and other issues.
While we love how much time, care, and attention the company put into the armrests on this chair, we do wish that the feature implementation had been evener. Instead of seeing one fabulous feature (the armrests), we would have preferred to see several above-average feature implementations.
Ergonomic Features
As it stands, the three ergonomic features this chair comes with: Waterfall-edge style seat, ergonomic headrest pillow, and lumbar support are all about average in their implementation. They’re not bad, and they certainly get the job done, but they could have been better had the company put less effort into the armrests and more time into those features. In any case, they’ll serve most people well enough.
Padding & Upholstery
As with the chair by Mecor we just talked about, this model is padded with modest amounts of block foam and upholstered with PU.
The same observations we made before apply here. We understand the reason for the modest padding; too much, and it blunts the effectiveness of the massage heads.
And again, we question the use of PU on this type of chair due to its lack of breathability, especially when the person sitting in the chair activates the heat function.
Recline Function
We do note, however, that the ability to recline fairly far back in this chair is a plus, and does have the effect of improving the overall quality of the back massage, because when you recline, your body weight presses you more firmly against the seatback, and thus, more firmly against the massage heads.
Massage Functions
In addition to the absurdly good armrests, this chair really shines thanks to its massage function. The design team went to heroic lengths to extend and improve upon the capabilities of the old technology they’re using.
The two models we’ve talked about so far both relied on stationary massage heads to render their vibration-style massages. This model uses similar massage heads but mounts them on a simple track, allowing them to move up and down in the seatback.
It’s not a true S-Track like you find in genuine massage chairs, but it’s something, and it definitely improves the quality of the massage you can get from those dated vibrating heads. Kudos to Best Massage for finding innovative ways to use the tech!
Even better, via controls on the simple, wired remote, you can direct the position of the massage heads manually, allowing you to zero in on the parts of your body that hurt the most.
Again, the experience isn’t as good as what you’d get from an actual massage chair with quad rollers (the industry standard), but it’s much better than you might expect from simple massage heads.
Heat Function
The heat function is decent but unremarkable. There’s no way to control the temperature; it can’t be activated independently of the massage function. That won’t be a deal breaker for most people, but it is something of a limitation.
Bottom Line
This is a decent chair with two standout features: Crazy-good, highly adjustable armrests and a much, much better massage function than you’d expect from a chair in its price range. The other features are average, but certainly nothing spectacular.
If you value massage over heat, but still want both, this is one of the best office chairs for bad hips out there and should move to the front of the line for you.
Also Great: Homcom Heated Office Chair
Recommended For: Chronic pain suffers and people with arthritis.
If none of the chairs we’ve talked about are exactly what you’re looking for, then we’d like to present the HomCom Heated Office Chair for your consideration. Like the other chairs we’ve reviewed to this point, the HomCom is offered by a smallish off-brand that imports chairs from China for sale here on the US market.
Before we take a look at this model’s feature set, we’ll start as we have previously, with a quick review of the core stats of the chair.
Chair Specifications
This is a fairly sizeable piece of conventionally designed office furniture. It’s lightly built and can support a fairly generous amount of user weight. That, combined with its seat dimensions and height adjustment range, makes it useful to the vast majority of the American market, with the notable exception of big and tall folk.
Although the height adjustment range does venture into big and tall territory, the maximum supported weight isn’t sufficient for the very biggest and tallest in that group. Sorry guys!
Color Options
In addition to being a versatile piece of furniture, appealing to much of the market, the HomCom has the distinction of being offered in a modest selection of colors. Thus, making it even easier for this model to blend in seamlessly with whatever home or office décor scheme you’re using and gives you some options where customization and personalization are concerned.
Padding
It’s also a fairly generously padded office chair and as such, a bit more comfortable than some of the others we’ve talked about. This, however, comes with a tradeoff. More padding means a less effective massage and heat function.
There are no hard and fast rules where this is concerned. If you prefer a milder, gentler massage, then you’ll find this chair to be very much to your liking. If you want a more vigorous massage without the expense of buying a proper massage chair, then you’ll want to gravitate to one of the other models we’ve talked about with relatively less padding.
Ergonomic Features
Like the other chairs on our list of finalists in this section, the HomCom sports a trio of basic ergonomic features in the form of a waterfall-edge style seat, a non-adjustable lumbar support system and a well-padded head and neck support. There’s nothing special about the implementation of these features. They’re good enough for light to moderate use but fall well short of being exceptional.
Upholstery
Another thing this chair has in common with most of the ones we’ve talked about previously is the fact that it is upholstered in PU. Again, this is fine from an aesthetic perspective, but it tends to start showing its age quickly. If you use the chair for 8+ hours a day, then after about a year, you can expect to start seeing peeling and cracking. You can get perhaps two years of life out of the upholstery with light to moderate use, but PU isn’t designed to withstand the test of time, and unsurprisingly, it doesn’t.
Massage
Both of these functions are reasonably well-implemented, but nothing is striking about them to call special attention to. The wired remote offers you six different vibrating massage options that are all broadly similar, but some experimentation is warranted to see if there’s one, in particular, you prefer above the rest.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to adjust the massage intensity, and as we mentioned earlier, owing to the more generous padding this chair sports, it does have the impact of blunting the effectiveness of the massage heads to a degree. You can, however, custom tailor the duration of your massage, selecting either a 10-, 15-, or 20-minute duration from the remote.
Heat
The other thing to draw your attention to where these features are concerned is the fact that the heat cannot be activated independently of the massage function. You get both, or you get neither.
That’s not something that’s going to be a deal breaker for most users, but if independent control of those elements is crucial to you, then you’ll definitely want to give this model a pass.
Bottom Line
This model’s main defining features are:
We provisionally recommend this one, especially if you like to personalize with color selection, but note that most people will probably gravitate to one of the others for a better all-around feature set (Flash), a better massage (Best Massage) or “everywhere” heat (Mecor). Still, if none of those features jump out at you, this is an excellent option to consider as it straddles the line between the other three.
Best Office Chair for Bad Hips 2024 – Comfort Collection
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Our Pick
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4.5
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4.5
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4.5
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$403.56
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$383.07
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N/A
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33” x 28.2” x 44.25” to 48.25”
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31.2” x 27” x 44.5”
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30.8” x 27” x 43.5” to 47.25”
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57.6 pounds
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57.2 pounds
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23.8 pounds
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400 pounds
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400 pounds
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250 pounds
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18” to 22”
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18” to 22”
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16” to 19.25”
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20”
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22”
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21”
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19”
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20”
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17.75”
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Highly recommended, especially for people who suffer from chronic hip pain, chronic leg pain, or poor circulation in their lower extremities. This is an amazingly comfortable chair. Not suitable for shorter people.
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Recommended for light to moderate daily use, especially for bigger, taller folk. Not suitable for shorter people.
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Recommended for smaller, shorter people to average sized folk for light to moderate daily use.
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- Good looking chair offered by well-respected brand that knows a lot about comfort. Features the most advanced comfort system we’ve ever seen in an office chair. Impressive warranty. Has proprietary tech that gets around the lack of breathability of leather upholstery.
- Bonded leather isn’t a top-quality upholstery choice. None of the ergonomic features are adjustable.
- An elegantly styled chair offered by a legendary company in the American furniture market. Has the second most advanced comfort system we’ve ever seen in an office chair.
- Bonded leather isn’t an especially durable upholstery option and isn’t breathable. No adjustable ergonomic features.
- Compact and lightweight. Specifically designed for shorter people. Very comfortable with a full suite of basic ergonomic features. Plenty of padding and very comfortable
- Bonded leather isn’t a great upholstery option. Not breathable. No adjustable ergonomic features.
Our Pick: Serta Tranquility
Recommended For: Big and tall folks weighing up to four hundred pounds who need a chair for light to moderate daily use.
Few companies know more about comfort than Serta. Given their extensive body of experience in the American mattress market, they almost have an unfair advantage when it comes to designing comfortable office chairs. It’s no surprise then that the company claimed two spots in this collection, including taking top honors with the Serta Tranquility.
While most of the office chairs sold today utilize conventional block foam for padding, Serta has designed a comprehensive comfort system for the Tranquility, making it, unlike any other chair you’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting in.
Before we get to the particulars of that, and everything else this fantastic chair can do, let’s take a moment to review the model’s basic stats.
Chair Specifications
The first thing that jumps out at you when you look at the numbers is one; this is a big piece of furniture. If you have a smaller home office or are otherwise cramped for space, you might have a hard time finding a good home for the chair.
Assuming that’s not an issue for you, the second thing you’ll notice is that based on these numbers, this is a chair designed for bigger, taller people. With a seat height adjustment that extends to 22” and a maximum supported weight of 400 pounds, shorter people may have a hard time sitting properly in this chair. Average-sized or larger folks will find it absolutely glorious.
Comfort System
Now, since comfort is the primary dimension we’re considering in this section, let’s talk about the Tranquility’s comfort system. It’s composed of five separate layers. We’ll start at the top (the layer you’ll actually be sitting on) and work out way down to the seat pan.
The top-most layer is made of poly-fiber, which is broadly similar to block foam but has the advantage of being more pliable and flexible. Beneath that, you’ll find a layer of memory foam. The third layer is dense foam, which provides support. The company refers to this as the “Macro Layer.”
The fourth layer is made up of two different components. Near the edge of the seat, cradling your legs as you sit in the chair, there’s a double-thick layer of the same dense foam that makes up the Macro Layer. The area of the seat itself on this layer consists of an array of comfort coils.
This is proprietary Serta technology used in many of the company’s mattresses. They serve the same function in the seat of the chair and provide an unbelievably, comfortable seating experience.
Although the company doesn’t specifically count the seat pan as part of its comfort system, it could certainly be counted as such, given that the seat pan is generously padded and cradles the rest of the system.
Needless to say, chairs padded with conventional block foam can’t hold a candle to the Tranquility.
Ergonomic Features
It gets better, though because, in addition to that, this chair boasts four exceptionally well-implemented ergonomic features. They are:
Basically, this chair cradles you from your head to your thighs.
While all four of the Tranquility’s ergonomic features are excellent, the best of the bunch is the chair’s lumbar support, which is built around another proprietary technology the company called “Pivoting Air Lumbar Support.” In addition to providing outstanding dynamic lumbar support, it helps increase breathability across the seatback as a while, which further enhances the chair’s comfort.
Warranty & Support
If that wasn’t enough, Serta offers an impressive ten-year warranty on this model, and the company has an excellent reputation where post-sales service and support is concerned.
Bottom Line
There are a couple of drawbacks, however.
We don’t regard any of these as being deal-breaking issues, but they may prove problematic for some potential customers. Of all the office chairs for hip pain on the market today, this one is far and away the most comfortable.
If you’re looking for a chair that puts a premium on comfort and can help ease the pain in your aching back, hips, and thighs, this is the one you want. You’re going to love it.
Runner-Up: La-Z-Boy Bellamy
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a chair for light to moderate daily use.
La-Z-Boy is another legendary company in the American furniture industry. Many people don’t realize it, but they make more than just living room furniture.
They don’t offer a huge number of office chairs, but every one they make has something remarkable about it. The Bellamy, in addition to being a delightfully elegant design, is the most comfortable of the lot, well-deserving of the second place slot in this portion of our review.
Before we talk about the particulars, let’s begin with a broad overview.
Chair Specifications
As with the Serta Tranquility, the Bellamy was designed for bigger, taller people, with a generous seat height range and maximum supported weight limit. Unfortunately, these stats also serve to make the chair unsuitable for shorter people, who simply won’t be able to sit correctly in the chair.
If they sit all the way back, even at the lowest seat height, their feet won’t rest firmly on the floor. If they sit on the edge of the seat, they’ll miss out on the chair’s excellent back support. Fortunately, if you are a shorter person, you’ll find other chairs on this list that will be a much better fit for you.
Comfort System
In terms of comfort, one thing this chair offers that our top pick doesn’t is the fact that it reclines to a maximum of 120 degrees, allowing you to kick back and relax to take periodic breaks from your work.
Like the Serta Tranquility, the La-Z-Boy Bellamy goes far beyond conventional block foam when it comes to providing comfort. It too utilizes a five-layer system, which looks like this:
Ergonomic Features
In addition to the comfort system, you’ll find the following ergonomic features on this model:
Adjustability
Unfortunately, none of these features are adjustable in any way, but all are exceptionally well-implemented and work in tandem with the generous padding to increase the chair’s overall level of comfort.
Upholstery
The only negative to bring to your attention where the La-Z-Boy Bellamy is concerned is the fact that it’s upholstered in bonded leather.
It’s real leather, but it is created using leather scraps that have been fused together, which makes it somewhat less supple and durable than genuine grain leather. It’s also, unfortunately, not at all breathable, so if you spend extended periods in the chair, you’ll find yourself getting hot and sweaty.
Even so, it’s a fantastic choice for light to moderate daily use, and we highly recommend it.
Value Pick: Serta MyFit
Recommended For: Petite and smaller users who need a comfortable, ergonomic office chair with innovative features.
Serta dominates this segment of our review, with a second entry in our list of finalists in the comfort collection. As we mentioned in our review of the Tranquility above, their experience building delightfully comfortable mattresses serves them well in the office furniture market, so we’re not at all surprised to see them featured prominently on any list focused on overall comfort.
This chair, however, is a marked departure from what we discovered in the Tranquility Executive Office Chair, as a quick look at its core stats will reveal.
Chair Specifications
As you can see, this is a very different chair, aimed at a very different segment of the market. While shorter people would struggle to sit properly in the Tranquility, bigger, taller folks probably won’t even be able to use this chair.
It’s relatively low weight limit and lower seat height adjustment range make this a very poor fit for taller people, but it’s perfect if you’re average-sized or shorter.
Comfort
Serta didn’t devise a robust, comprehensive comfort system for this chair, but they did pad it well, with generous amounts of block foam padding. They also augmented the padding with well-padded ergonomic armrests, a delightful, double-padded headrest pillow, a waterfall-edge-style seat and excellent lumbar support.
While none of these features are adjustable in any way, they work in tandem quite well and serve as a great compliment to the padding itself. The MyFit is a delight to sit in, and it doesn’t weigh much either, which makes it easy to maneuver from place to place as the needs of your working environment dictate.
Lumbar Support
All of the MyFit’s ergonomic features are well-implemented but the one to talk about is the lumbar support. People who have purchased this model have sharply divided opinions over it. The company utilizes a proprietary technology here that they call “active lumbar support.”
The idea is that as you shift and move in your seat, the seatback moves with you so that it’s always pressed against your back. If you lean forward, the seatback leans forward with you so it always provides lumbar support.
Some people love it. Others find it infuriating. This is definitely a chair you’ll want to test drive at a furniture store before buying so you don’t get saddled with a feature you despise. If you do like it though, you’ll be thrilled at the constant lumbar support. It’s almost a first generation “smart chair,” in a way.
Upholstery
The only complaint we have about this model is that the design team chose to upholster it in bonded leather. There is no fabric option available. Bonded leather isn’t bad by any means, but it’s also not breathable. If you’re a smaller person looking for an office chair that’s big on comfort and can be used for 8+ hours a day, this one probably isn’t it.
After a few hours, you’re going to start getting hot and sweaty sitting in the leather seat. That’s unfortunate, but if you only need a chair for light to moderate daily use, then it shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Overall, if you’re average sized or smaller, and generous padding is what you’re most interested in, this is one of the best, if not the best office chair for hip pain you’ll find.
Also Great: Flash Furniture Hercules 24/7 Big and Tall
Recommended For: Anyone who spends several hours a day in their chair. This thing is virtually indestructible.
In a word, this chair is a monster. Shorter people will look at it sitting in a room and swear they’ve stumbled into an episode of “Land of the Giants.” It’s huge. It’s heavy. It’s rugged, and it’s practically indestructible.
Let’s just say right from the start that if you’re short or average-sized, this is almost certainly not the chair for you, as a quick look at the Hercules’ stats will confirm.
Chair Specifications
It’s the biggest and heaviest chair on our list of finalists in this category, and the seat height range puts it in the stratosphere as far as shorter people are concerned. If you’re big and tall though, everything about this chair is going to make you smile.
In fact, if you buy one of these for your home office, every other office chair you sit in after this one is going to feel like a toy by comparison. This chair is a beast, and we mean that in the very best way!
Aesthetics & Design
Flash Furniture is one of our favorite companies. They’re a scrappy little brand that makes surprisingly good office furniture, often stealing thunder from much bigger brands and snatching spots on our list of finalists in a variety of roundup reviews. We were pleased to see them represented here, and the Hercules is an excellent model by any reckoning. As we mentioned though, this is not a chair for everyone. Only the biggest and tallest need apply.
If you’re big enough to sit in this chair and still have your feet firmly on the floor though, you’ll love it. This model was specifically designed for call center use, so the expectation for this chair is that there will be someone sitting in it twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. As such, if you have one at home, no matter how much of a power user you are, this chair can take anything you can throw at it and come back asking for seconds.
Comfort & Ergonomics
You can order yours with either bonded leather or durable fabric upholstery, although for maximum breathability, we recommend the fabric option. Beneath the upholstery, you’ll find generous amounts of block foam padding, augmented by a comfortable ergonomic headrest, a waterfall edge style seat and well-implemented lumbar support.
The armrests are padded but not ergonomically sculpted and none of the ergonomic features are adjustable, but they work well in tandem with the upholstery to create a very comfortable seating experience.
Remember, this chair was designed to be comfortable for people weighing up to five hundred pounds, so if you weigh significantly less than that, you’ll feel like you’re floating on a giant cloud-like throne.
In many ways, this is a simplistic chair. There’s not a lot of adjustable features on it (height adjustment and angle of recline, which only goes back to a maximum of 120 degrees), but its vast size and clean design makes it noteworthy.
If you’re looking for a big comfy chair that will provide years of faithful service, and you’re looking for something with plenty of padding to nurse your aching back, hips and legs, this is a superb option offered by a great company you may have never even heard of. We recommend it.
Honorable Mention: Brylane Home Extra Wide Office Chair
Recommended For: Taller women with wider hips. Big and tall men.
We didn’t feel as though our comfort collection list would be complete without giving a nod of recognition to the Brylane Home extra wide chair. It’s offered by a smaller brand you may not have heard of, but as with the others on this list, it’s delightfully comfortable and a well-designed office chair that serves a significant segment of the market.
We’ll begin as we have when discussing previous chairs, with a quick review of the basic stats that define the model.
Chair Specifications
As you can see, this chair is a bit smaller than the gigantic, hulking chair offered by Flash Furniture, but it supports the same impressive amount of weight. The seat height adjustment range is more versatile than the Flash Furniture offering, making it useful to people of average size and taller.
Aesthetics & Design
One of the more notable things about this chair though is the seat width. This model was designed with women in mind; specifically, those who have wider hips. True, that makes this chair a bit of a niche product, but we love it. It’s a segment of the market that doesn’t get much attention, so kudos to Brylane Home for filling a need. Some women have wider hips. They need chairs too. Simple.
Of course, it’s not just for women. Big and tall men will feel right at home in the chair too, but if you don’t have wider hips, then you might find it difficult to make effective use of the armrests on this chair. They’ll just be too widely spaced for you.
Color Options
In any case, it’s a sizeable, attractive piece of office furniture, and even better, you can order yours in either brown, ice, or orange, which gives you a few options to personalize your chair and ensure that it blends well, whatever color or home décor scheme you’re using.
Comfort
Where comfort is concerned, the Brylane Home chair is surprisingly advanced. True, it does not employ a comprehensive comfort system as our top picks do, but it does feature air pocket coil springs, augmented by block foam, which makes it significantly more comfortable than your average office chair.
Ergonomic Features
In addition to that, this model offers the following ergonomic features:
All four are well-implemented, with the best of the bunch being the seat design, which is delightfully comfortable. If you suffer from sciatic nerve pain or other types of chronic leg, hip, and thigh pain, you’ll notice an almost immediate difference sitting in this chair.
While it certainly won’t make the pain go away, it’ll make it easier for you to stay productive. The lumbar support is also quite good, head and neck support are decent, with the (stationary) ergonomic armrests being the weakest of the bunch.
Most people discount how important the dimensions of the seat of an office chair are, but this model really drives the point home. It’s important to take careful measurements before you buy this one. If the seat width is significantly wider than your hips, the armrests will be virtually unusable.
In a similar vein, if the seat depth is too much for you, you’ll either find yourself sitting all the way back in the seat to gain the benefits of the headrest and lumbar support, which will leave your feet off the floor and make your legs ache when you sit in the chair for extended periods, or you’ll sit forward.
If you do that, you’ll be able to keep your feet on the floor, but you’ll lose out on the support offered by the seatback. Neither are good solutions, and both are sure signs that the chair you’ve purchased is simply too big for you.
A Few Things to Consider
Its two biggest drawbacks, in our view, are these:
First, the chair doesn’t recline at all, but it does rock back and forth slightly. If you’re looking for a comfy office chair with a 120- to 135- degree recline angle (or more), then this one is, unfortunately, not what you’re looking for.
Second, given that Brylane Home isn’t a big, well-known brand, it’s a little on the pricey side. Then again, there are very few office chairs on the market today that specifically cater to people with wider hips, so if that’s what you need, then it’s worth spending a little extra.
Overall, we like this chair very much, but acknowledge that it falls short of true greatness. Even so, for the right user, this is a stellar choice.
Best Office Chairs for Hip Pain 2024 – Alternative Seating
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Our Pick
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4.4
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4.1
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3.6
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$1,325.00
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$399.00
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$174.95
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24” x 24” x 22.5” to 30”
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17” x 16.5” x 9”
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23.8” x 22.7” x 19” to 28.28”
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30 Pounds
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15.05 pounds
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30.3 pounds
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330 Pounds
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250 pounds
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250 pounds
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22.5” to 30”
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22” to 32”
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19” to 28.25”
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Recommended. With the right accessories, this one could easily be a great choice even for power users.
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Recommend for people with active jobs who spend as much time sitting as they spend moving about.
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Recommended for light to moderate daily use. Could be useful for heavy daily use if you’re willing to re-upholster when the PU wears out.
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- Amazing company, great pre and post-sales support, tons of options and accessories. You can completely customize your saddle stool. Adjustable seat width is outstanding.
- Expensive
- A legendary stool, created by one of the best designers in the industry, and sold by one of the most respected companies operating in the market today. Superb ergonomic support. There are even a couple of accessories available.
- Pricey.
- Low priced. Tremendous versatility, given that it combines the best features of a task chair and a saddle stool.
- Relatively low-quality materials. PU upholstery won’t stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use.
Our Pick: Salli Multi Adjuster
Recommended For: Anyone who can afford one, but it’s of particular value in offices or households where multiple people will be using the stool.
Unless you work for a dental practice, in a medical office, or at a veterinary clinic, you’ve probably never heard of Salli. They’re a tiny Finnish company, but they’re Titans in the medical community because they make superb ergonomic stools designed for the kind of work that dental, medical and veterinary technicians perform.
Their designs are top-notch, and the company is continually tweaking, and refining based on the feedback they get from medical professionals around the world. In a nutshell, these are world-class ergonomic products, and if you’re looking for an alternative to your current office chair, Salli Systems belongs on your short list of companies to consider.
Aesthetics & Design
The Multi Adjuster stool isn’t named as the company’s flagship model, but it can fairly be seen as such. Not only is it one of their more expensive offerings, it’s also one of the most advanced and refined ergonomic stools on the market today.
Its key, defining feature is the fact that the two halves of its anatomical split seat design can be adjusted. This is huge. It’s essentially a seat width adjustment, implemented on a stool frame and it allows you to fine-tune the stool’s width, so it fits you like a glove.
Saddle stools are powerful ergonomic seating options, to begin with, but adding the ability to adjust the seat to perfectly fit your body elevates the ergonomic benefits to the next level. That, however, is just the beginning where this model is concerned.
Customization Options
If you decide this is the stool for you, when you place your order, you can have it upholstered in your choice of leather, fabric, or faux leather (PU), with a broad range of colors to choose from.
You’ll need to take careful measurements, both of your legs and the desk you plan to use the stool in tandem with because you can also select the gas lift you want to have included with your stool. That’s important because the gas lift you select will determine the exact seat height adjustment range of your stool when it arrives at your door. You can also select from a variety of bases.
Accessories
On top of that, the company sells a number of interesting accessories, including a desk that attaches to the stool itself, a backrest and even armrests if you decide you need them.
This, however, is an incredibly expensive product. Our recommendation would be to order the stock stool with your initial selections (upholstery, color, gas lift, and base), then use the stool as is for a month or two. That will give you a better sense of what accessories will be the most impactful.
Even without enhancements, the Multi Adjuster stool provides powerful ergonomic benefits simply by sitting in it. The stool won’t really let you sit improperly. Unlike an office chair, which allows and, in some cases, even encourages slouching, saddle-style stools keep you honest and in doing so, help foster better seating habits in general.
In addition to that though, if you suffer from hip pain, sciatica or poor leg circulation, the design of the stool will help ease your pain and improve blood flow. You’ll simply feel better and if you live with chronic pain, that’s priceless.
Bottom Line
This is one of the best alternative seating options on the planet. That’s why it’s so widely used by the medical community.
Although tiny, Salli Systems has a sterling reputation for service and support, both before and after your purchase. In fact, if you have a special fabric, you’d like to have your Salli Stool upholstered in, they’ll work with you to make sure it’s done to your specifications.
A superb company selling superb ergonomic seating and accessories. Salli belongs on your short list.
Runner-Up: Varier Move Stool
Recommended For: Anyone who’s dissatisfied with conventional office furniture and who doesn’t need something designed for sitting for extended periods.
This legendary stool, designed by Per Die in 1985, remains the gold standard in ergonomic tilting stools to this very day. It’s the stool that various competitors in the market consistently try (and fail) to beat.
Aesthetics & Design
Like the Salli’s Multi Adjuster, the Move comes with a saddle-style seat, with all of the ergonomic benefits that entails. That, however, is where the similarities end.
The stem of the stool moves with you, as you move, giving you the same kind of versatility you’re accustomed to from a wheeled office chair while always providing the perfect level of ergonomic support.
Unfortunately, the saddle style seat is conventionally designed, rather than being anatomically split and adjustable, but that’s the only shortcoming this fantastic piece of office furniture has and even that is subject to some debate. After all, women overwhelmingly prefer conventionally designed saddle-seating to anatomically split seats, so depending on who you ask, you might hear that the Move is perfect as is, with no further refinements needed.
Varier, the company that sells the Move, has access to some of the best designers in the world, and the products they sell are reflective of that fact. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better, more respected company in the office furniture industry (or any other, for that matter)!
Their products are a bit more expensive, but they are a cut above, and sustainably built, to boot. If “going green” is important to you, you can satisfy that urge and get a great, unconventional office seating solution, all in one go.
Upholstery
In terms of upholstery options, while Varier doesn’t offer as many colors to choose from, they do offer a variety of material options. These are:
Accessories
While Varier offers a handful of extras to augment the Move stool, they’re pretty basic and the selection pales in comparison to the bounty offered by Salli. You can get soft tape for the bottom of your stool, or a glow ring if you want to give it a somewhat futuristic look, but that’s it.
Even minus a plethora of extras though, this is the best ergonomic motion stool in the industry. Nothing else even comes close.
Bottom Line
If Salli stools are too much for your budget to bear, or if you’re more interested in the ergonomic motion concept than the saddle chair concept, the Move is the best there is, and Varier is a legend in the office furniture industry.
Value Pick: 2xHome Ergonomic Saddle Stool
Recommended For: Anyone, but it’s of particular value to those suffering from hip pain, leg pain, or arthritis.
2xHome is a tiny off-brand, but even though they don’t have nearly the brand heft that our top picks do, this little company placed remarkably well. That speaks volumes about the strength of the design of their ergonomic saddle stool.
We’ll get to the particulars in a moment, but since this product is more like a standard office chair than a stool, let’s do a quick review of the core stats that define this model.
Chair Specifications
On paper, this looks like it would be an excellent option for big and tall folk. Unfortunately, the maximum supported weight limit simply doesn’t support that idea. Even so, for average sized people, or taller folk of light to average build, this little chair is superb.
Best of all, the height adjustment range is vast indeed; much wider than you’ll ever find on a conventional office chair, which means that you can use this chair in a variety of ways. It’s just as handy in front of a desk as it is in front of a drafting table, or even a standing desk. Talk about versatility!
Adjustability
Unfortunately, this model does have a couple of drawbacks, the first of which is that unlike a conventional office chair, outside of its impressive height adjustment range, there’s nothing to adjust.
Still, the saddle-style seat provides exceptional ergonomic support and is perfect for those who suffer from sciatic nerve pain, poor circulation in their lower extremities, and hip pain. When combined with a task chair’s seat back, it gets around one of the biggest problems people have with this type of seating – the lack of back support.
Mid-Back Support
Granted, this model doesn’t offer lumbar support, but the mid-back support is superb, and the presence of the seatback makes this one of the rare breeds of alternative office furniture that’s good for heavy daily use; or at least, it would be a superb choice for heavy daily use, save for the upholstery.
Upholstery
We’re sorry to say that this great little piece of furniture is clad in PU. While it looks nice, it’s just not very durable, and if you try to use it for 8+ hours a day, you’ll find that the upholstery begins showing its age very quickly. After about a year, you’ll notice peeling and cracking.
You can get about two years’ worth of life out of the upholstery if you use it only lightly to moderately every day, but the good news is that there’s really not a lot of upholstery on the chair anyway.
When it wears out, it would be relatively inexpensive to have it reupholstered, assuming the frame itself is holding up well for you. Doing so will greatly extend the useful life of the chair, and given its modest cost, that fact further enhances its value.
Also Great: Jobri BetterPosture Saddle Chair
Recommended For: Anyone with an active job who does as much sitting as standing and moving about. Especially good for leg circulation, hip pain, and improved posture.
While Jobri isn’t a huge brand, they are larger and better-established than many of the tiny off-brands serving the office furniture market. They’ve been around a while, offer decent customer service if you’re willing to jump through a few hoops, and they make consistently good products.
Aesthetics & Design
The big thing that the BetterPosture stool has going for it is that it doesn’t try to do too much. It’s about as basic as a product can get. It’s a saddle-style stool on rolling casters. The seat is well-designed, and except for the PU upholstery, the quality of the materials used in the stool’s construction are a cut above.
It provides all the ergonomic benefits of a saddle-style stool, supports a modest amount of weight, and has a good seat height adjustment range that makes it a versatile piece of office furniture, useful in a wide range of situations.
It’s also very modestly priced. If you can’t afford the top-tier contenders in this space, and if you’re interested in buying a low-cost stool that’s likely to see use by multiple people in your home or office, this is a superb choice.
While it’s true that the PU upholstery will wear out quickly, when it does, given how little of it there is on the stool, it’s very easy and inexpensive to have it reupholstered with something more durable, breathable and longer lasting.
Bottom Line
With this product, what you’re really buying is the frame and the ergonomic seat itself. The upholstery ultimately doesn’t matter. Long after it wears out and you replace it for a song, the stool itself will still be there, serving you reliably.
It’s a good if unexceptional piece of office furniture. If that’s all you’re looking for, then you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better option than the BetterPosture stool.
Honorable Mention: Ergonomic Home Ergonomic Kneeling Chair
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a relatively modestly priced kneeling chair for light to moderate daily use.
We didn’t feel this section of our roundup review would be complete if we didn’t give a nod of recognition to Ergonomic Home and their ergonomic kneeling chair. We’ll be quick to point out that this model isn’t for everyone, but before we dive into the particulars, let’s start by taking a quick look at the chair’s core stats.
Chair Specifications
As with most of the chairs in this part of our review, the weight limit of this one is fairly modest, so despite the fact that it’s got a fabulous height adjustment range, it’s not suitable for use by big and tall folk.
It’s also lightly constructed and upholstered with PU, which means that it won’t stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use.
Aesthetics & Design
Given that, you might be wondering why we included it. The answer comes down to this: This amazing little chair combines the best features of a kneeling chair with a saddle style stool, giving you the ergonomic benefits of both!
If you’re not happy with your current office chair, and that dissatisfaction has led you on a quest to explore alternative seating options, this model gives you the freedom to explore two very different alternatives combined into one lightweight, low-cost package.
The production quality isn’t high, but it’s a cut above what you generally find in the value segment of the market, and since there’s not much PU upholstery to begin with, it won’t be an expensive proposition to have the chair reupholstered when the PU starts showing its age.
That’s a very good thing, because at best, you’re only likely to get two years of life out of the upholstery, and that’s assuming light to moderate use. It will start peeling and cracking after about a year if you’re using it for 8+ hours a day.
Mobility
Note that although the seat doesn’t swivel but the chair has rolling casters. It’s so lightweight that moving it around as needed isn’t a problem at all, and the impressive height adjustment range makes it an incredibly versatile piece of office furniture.
If none of our higher-ranked picks are exactly what you’re looking for, and you want to experiment with both kneeling chairs and saddle-style stools, this is a great, cost-effective way to see which one you like best, and the frame is rugged enough that if you spend a bit of money replacing the upholstery, with proper care, it’ll likely provide you three to five years of reliable service. That makes it an excellent investment indeed.
Arthritis Sufferers May Also Want to Consider…
Because arthritis pain can be anywhere in your body, even the best office chair on the planet can’t help mitigate your pain on its own. Fortunately, there are a whole range of other ergonomic products available that act as excellent compliments to whatever chair you ultimately select.
Although an in-depth analysis of those other types of products is beyond the scope of this roundup, we did at least want to provide a few links to products that might be of value in order to get your mind turning on the subject. Here are some additional things to consider acquiring:
Best Office Chair for Hip Pain Roundup Review 2024 Conclusion
So, what is the best office chair for hip pain? As you can see, there’s no one “right” answer to that question because there’s no one chair that does it all.
Having identified four broad strategies that are effective in controlling and mitigating hip and arthritis pain; however, we have identified an overall winner in each group. We’ll summarize our findings here.
Ergonomic Collection
- SteelCase Leap – Our top pick and the best ergonomic office chair on the market today.
- Herman Miller Embody – Stylish and futuristic, this is a great alternate choice for power users and gamers, and is very nearly the equal of the Leap.
- Herman Miller Aeron – The best mesh office chair on the market today. Not quite as adjustable as our top picks, but also not as expensive. A great choice if you want a top-tier chair, don’t mind mesh, and don’t want to pay top-dollar.
- SteelCase Amia – Running neck and neck with the Amia in terms of overall score, if our top picks aren’t to your liking, choosing between the Aeron and the Amia is ultimately going to come down to personal preference. Both are excellent in their own way.
- ErgoHuman High Back – Less expensive than the others mentioned here, this model comes with the advantage of having a number of really cool accessories you can use to totally customize your chair and work in entirely new ways. This one’s perfect for any tinkerer.
Massage + Heat Collection
- Flash Furniture BT-7672 – Our top pick in this category. An unexpectedly good heated office chair that has the basics well covered.
- Mecor Heated Office Chair – Will be the top pick of people who want heat everywhere, and not just in the lumbar region of the chair.
- Best Massage High Back Executive Massager – This chair has the best massage function on the list but sacrifices a bit in terms of comfort to get there. If massage matters more to you than heat, this is the one you want.
- HomCom Heated Office Chair – Delightfully low cost and more comfortable than every other chair except our top pick in this category, but with a milder massage. If none of the others are what you’re looking for, this is an excellent choice.
Comfort Collection
- Serta Tranquility – Our top pick in the comfort category, and the most comfortable office chair we’ve ever seen, with an incredibly advanced, proprietary comfort system.
- La-Z-Boy Bellamy – has the second most advanced office chair comfort system we’ve ever seen. If for any reason, you don’t like the Tranquility, this is a superb alternate.
- Serta MyFit – While our top two picks in this category are optimized for big and tall people, this model is optimized for shorter folk. If you’re short, and you put a premium on comfort, this is the chair you want, no question.
- Flash Furniture Hercules 24/7 – If our top two picks are optimized for big and tall folk, this chair is optimized for giants. It’s a well-padded tank and virtually indestructible. Recommended for big and tall power users because this chair was designed for 24/7 call center use. Whatever you dish out, this chair can take it.
- Brylane Home Extra Wide – This model was optimized for women, but anyone with wider hips will find it very much to their liking. It has an advanced comfort system that is excellent, though not up to the standards of our top contenders.
Alternative Seating Collection
- Salli Multi Adjuster – The overall winner in this category. Simply the best saddle stool being sold today. This one is even good for power users because there are a variety of accessories available, including a backrest.
- Varier Move Stool – The best ergonomic tilting stool being sold today. While not everyone will be interested in this type of office seating, if you are, this is a superb option, and much less expensive than the Salli Stool.
- 2x Home Ergonomic Saddle Stool – One-part task chair and one-part saddle stool, this is a great option for people who want to experiment with alternative seating but aren’t sure they’re ready to commit to it completely.
- Jobri BetterPosture Stool – A superb budget option. A simple, no-frills design that gets the job done at a delightfully low price.
- ErgonomicHome Ergonomic Kneeling Chair – We had to include this design because it’s so unique: One-part saddle-stool and one-part kneeling chair, this little guy allows you to experiment with two of the most popular alternative office seating options on the market today.
Ultimately then, it comes down to which of these four strategies you want to pursue in order to minimize your hip and arthritis pain. Once you answer that question, you’ll be able to zero in on the perfect office chair for you. Even if you disagree with our top picks in each category outlined above, one thing is certain: Every chair in this roundup review will serve you well, and odds are, your next office chair is somewhere in this report.
You don’t have to just live with or accept hip or arthritis pain. You can do something about it, and the office chairs presented here, working in tandem with other ergonomic office products, can make a real, tangible difference.
Recommended Reading
Office Chair for Big and Tall
Embark on our quest for the best office chair tailored for big and tall users!
Office Chair for Leg Pain
Check out our top picks for office chairs that provide relief for leg pain to keep you productive.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES:
- Steelcase Leap User Manual.
- Herman Miller Embody Chair User Manual.
- Salli, Official Brand Website.
- Jobri, Official Brand Website.
- Serta, Official Brand Website.
- Varier, Official Brand Website.
- 2xHome, Official Brand Website.
- La-Z-Boy, Official Brand Website.
- Homcom, Official Brand Website.
- Ergohuman, Official Brand Website.
- Best Massage, Official Brand Website.
- HermanMiller, Official Brand Website.
- Brylane Home, Official Brand Website.
- Steelcase Leap, Official Brand Website.
- Flash Furniture, Official Brand Website.
- Ergonomic Home, Official Brand Website.
- Can Your Office Chair Cause Hip Pain?, HubPages.
- Beyond the Office Chair: Tips for Ergonomic Back Support at the Office, Everett Office Furniture.