Adjusting Pain?

[Mike Soda]

Somehow, I managed to find enough odd jobs to afford an ErgoChair 2 by Autonomous. Aside from cutting myself on some sharp plastic during assembly & some loose threads they forgot to trim away my hopes were high. Now 2 days later though I'm still experiencing horrible upper back pain in my shoulder blades. I can't believe that the chair is just no good because everyone's reviews on it were positive aside from some trivial things like slight base or arm wobbling. So I'm wondering, since I came from a sunken in swivel rocker where I had a pillow wedged behind my back to compensate & that previous desk was much too high for my old chair too. Could it just be that I need to adjust to this new, proper setup & until then I'm gonna be in pain?

 

Old Setup

 

New Setup Almost (Saving for a Vesa Arm & desk organizer drawer)

[Anghammarad]

Yep your back isn't used to sit upright unsupported from a comfy cushion... it will take a while and the muscles from your neck to down your shoulder blades will cramp/hurt every now and then for a few weeks, until they got strengthened enough to carry the new weight.

[dizmo]

I think you're body just isn't used to proper posture....which in itself isn't a good sign. Just keep sitting properly, and your body will eventually adapt.

I love how your set up went from grandma's computer to something more modern

Yet...the box of tissues stays

[Mike Soda]

19 hours ago, Anghammarad said:

Yep your back isn't used to sit upright unsupported from a comfy cushion... it will take a while and the muscles from your neck to down your shoulder blades will cramp/hurt every now and then for a few weeks, until they got strengthened enough to carry the new weight.

Thanks, I'm gonna try to go to the Chiropractor soon anyway to hopefully speed up the process.

15 hours ago, dizmo said:

I think you're body just isn't used to proper posture....which in itself isn't a good sign. Just keep sitting properly, and your body will eventually adapt.

I love how your set up went from grandma's computer to something more modern

Yet...the box of tissues stays

Thank you too & yeah haha it was pretty bad before, everything I've ever owned in years prior was some junky hand-me-down from family or friends who couldn't afford better or care to give away anything decent. Unfortunately I built the desk a little too short, 27" is the max it's leveling feet can reach. Next time I plan on just buying a Baltic Birch Butchers Block & mounting that on some telescopic crank adjustable steel legs. Unfortunately that's about $700 away so probably wont happen this year. I've realized that for my height, unlike many sites claimed at the time of building. The minimal I need is 28" otherwise there's more pressure on my rear & not legs when it should be even.

 

P.S: Don't ever buy Rust-Oleum Countertop Coating, it's dents easily, still smells horrible & has even chipped/pealed in some spots despite my obsessiveness when applying.

[Froody129]

The arm rests seem to be keeping the chair away from the desk, are you not leaning forward too much?

[linustouchtips]

the guy i work with has a standing elevated thingy for his monitor and peripherals he switches back and forth between standing and sitting. he had back surgery so he couldn't sit without pain. after a few months hes back to sitting most of the time.

[Mike Soda]

19 minutes ago, Froody129 said:

The arm rests seem to be keeping the chair away from the desk, are you not leaning forward too much?

Yeah that's what I don't like about this chair, they don't slide back far enough. Truthfully I only need an elbow rest, if they slid back 2 inches further or were even that much shorter it'd be perfect. I'm trying my best not to bunch forward, letting the chair rock back helps. I'm hopefully gonna be able to buy one of these soon too so I can bring the monitor much closer & still be able to slide my keyboard forward when eating.

18 minutes ago, linustouchtips said:

the guy i work with has a standing elevated thingy for his monitor and peripherals he switches back and forth between standing and sitting. he had back surgery so he couldn't sit without pain. after a few months hes back to sitting most of the time.

Hopefully I don't need surgery, although I've already been looked at by a Chiropractor & he said my back is a little off, that was a couple months ago.

[PCMasterDebater]

45 minutes ago, linustouchtips said:

snip

 

22 minutes ago, Mike Soda said:

snip

Not sure what you did to your back but linustouchtips is on to something.

For my computer set-up I have 3 different chairs depending on what sort of pain I'm in. Personally, I have injuries to my both knees, lower back, right shoulder, right hand, right wrist, and right foot. These injuries cause me a significant amount of discomfort and pain but I refuse to go on any type of pain killers.

 

I use:

1. a knee chair. - this keeps my back straight but hurts my knees; typically Ill use this first

2. a office chair. - Big butt area so it lets me relax - removed arm wrests so I can't slouch

3. a gaming chair. - smaller butt area but it has arm rests; so I can rest for my wrist/hand

 

Then I have a foot stool under the desk to prop my feet up occasionally to help with the foot and knee pain. I took 1.8inches off each leg of my desk to make it the PERFECT height. Last but no least I use a gel wrist pad to keep my wrists up which keeps the shoulder pain down.

 

I swap between them before games, during games, and after games. Surgery is not always the right answer. I know quite a few people who have gone through back surgery, most say they are worse off after the surgery. Low impact workouts are far more effective if you work with the right doctor/teacher/trainer.

 

[Anghammarad]

2 hours ago, Mike Soda said:

Yeah that's what I don't like about this chair, they don't slide back far enough. Truthfully I only need an elbow rest, if they slid back 2 inches further or were even that much shorter it'd be perfect. I'm trying my best not to bunch forward, letting the chair rock back helps. I'm hopefully gonna be able to buy one of these soon too so I can bring the monitor much closer & still be able to slide my keyboard forward when eating.

Hopefully I don't need surgery, although I've already been looked at by a Chiropractor & he said my back is a little off, that was a couple months ago.

some quick easy workouts to do while sitting on your desk.

 

Sit upright, stretch both arms outside, make fists, first palms pointing to the front. Then flex your arms, shoulder and back muscles and try to pull the outstretched arms in, while keeping them straight. The same with palms pointing back. Each time you'll feel the muscles left and right from your spine to flex and harden. Just like your biceps would lifting something. 

 

Hold that posture for 5 seconds, than change direction, 5 seconds again. 5-10 repeats. No other weights needed. If you move your head the same time your back is "flexed" in that pose, the neck my crack badly. but that is a good thing. No worries.

 

Another workout like the last one but with another posture. 

 

Lift your arms to your sides as if you would hold them for push ups. elbows the height of your shoulders, underarms out front (like a 90° angle on the elbows), palms out front just like with push ups.

 

Now do a "push up" without moving your arms. Flex the needed muscles and keep them flexed for 5 seconds. you will feel a whole other muscle group to get used.

 

Now after the first one, turn your hands palms to the outside and hold your hands as if you would hold onto a open window pulling yourself out. Now instead of pushing, you try to draw yourself out. Again only flexing the needed muscles without moving your arms at all. 

 

do those two like the first workout. Holding both "stances" for 5-10 seconds, then switch to the other posture. Repeat 5-10 times.

 

This will strengthen your muscles without putting strain due to weights onto your back.

 

I just did them to explain them better and well even the bloodflow in the back and neck is better. You'll feel it getting warmer.

 

[Mike Soda]

27 minutes ago, Anghammarad said:

some quick easy workouts to do while sitting on your desk.

 

Sit upright, stretch both arms outside, make fists, first palms pointing to the front. Then flex your arms, shoulder and back muscles and try to pull the outstretched arms in, while keeping them straight. The same with palms pointing back. Each time you'll feel the muscles left and right from your spine to flex and harden. Just like your biceps would lifting something. 

 

Hold that posture for 5 seconds, than change direction, 5 seconds again. 5-10 repeats. No other weights needed. If you move your head the same time your back is "flexed" in that pose, the neck my crack badly. but that is a good thing. No worries.

 

Another workout like the last one but with another posture. 

 

Lift your arms to your sides as if you would hold them for push ups. elbows the height of your shoulders, underarms out front (like a 90° angle on the elbows), palms out front just like with push ups.

 

Now do a "push up" without moving your arms. Flex the needed muscles and keep them flexed for 5 seconds. you will feel a whole other muscle group to get used.

 

Now after the first one, turn your hands palms to the outside and hold your hands as if you would hold onto a open window pulling yourself out. Now instead of pushing, you try to draw yourself out. Again only flexing the needed muscles without moving your arms at all. 

 

do those two like the first workout. Holding both "stances" for 5-10 seconds, then switch to the other posture. Repeat 5-10 times.

 

This will strengthen your muscles without putting strain due to weights onto your back.

 

I just did them to explain them better and well even the bloodflow in the back and neck is better. You'll feel it getting warmer.

 

My neck didn't crack but it made my back feel a little better XD.

[Anghammarad]

2 minutes ago, Mike Soda said:

My neck didn't crack but it made my back feel a little better XD.

Do this a few times a day... if you have a desk job, even there you can do it without breaking sweat but it helps. 

 

My chiropractic told me about those and showed them to me =).

 

I do those not often enough, but every time I think of it.

 

I would have made a how to vid on YT... but that would have caused a mass panic... so I didn't

[dizmo]

6 hours ago, Mike Soda said:

Thank you too & yeah haha it was pretty bad before, everything I've ever owned in years prior was some junky hand-me-down from family or friends who couldn't afford better or care to give away anything decent. Unfortunately I built the desk a little too short, 27" is the max it's leveling feet can reach. Next time I plan on just buying a Baltic Birch Butchers Block & mounting that on some telescopic crank adjustable steel legs. Unfortunately that's about $700 away so probably wont happen this year. I've realized that for my height, unlike many sites claimed at the time of building. The minimal I need is 28" otherwise there's more pressure on my rear & not legs when it should be even.

 

P.S: Don't ever buy Rust-Oleum Countertop Coating, it's dents easily, still smells horrible & has even chipped/pealed in some spots despite my obsessiveness when applying.

Is there any particular reason you want those legs? You can get motorized legs from eBay for about $240.

Yeah I find stuff like that is always best to figure out for yourself. Just like fitment for a bicycle; you can read every guide you want, but ultimately it comes down to how you feel when you're on it *shrug*

 

Haha, I'll keep that in mind!

[Mike Soda]

On 1/15/2018 at 5:53 PM, dizmo said:

Is there any particular reason you want those legs? You can get motorized legs from eBay for about $240.

Yeah I find stuff like that is always best to figure out for yourself. Just like fitment for a bicycle; you can read every guide you want, but ultimately it comes down to how you feel when you're on it *shrug*

 

Haha, I'll keep that in mind!

Yeah I don't want motorized electric legs, just one more thing I gotta plug into my UPS or risk it frying if I don't because no where is the power perfect.

[dizmo]

33 minutes ago, Mike Soda said:

Yeah I don't want motorized electric legs, just one more thing I gotta plug into my UPS or risk it frying if I don't because no where is the power perfect.

I wouldn't even bother considering it's hardly ever on. Is the power really that bad in your place? That's brutal.

[Mike Soda]

37 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I wouldn't even bother considering it's hardly ever on. Is the power really that bad in your place? That's brutal.

Unknown really, we haven't had a brown out but the wiring in our house is odd at times. I know we should get it inspected but it supposedly was when we moved in & can't afford to do it again. Also like you said the lifting up & down of a desk is so infrequent that I don't need it to be motorized, a crank will do just fine. Besides the money though I'll need to find out how heavy the Birch Butchers block is. It's weight plus my PC & whatever else I plan to put on it can't go above the 176lb lifting capacity the Titan legs for $177 I'm most interested due to how low they can go.

[dizmo]

11 minutes ago, Mike Soda said:

Unknown really, we haven't had a brown out but the wiring in our house is odd at times. I know we should get it inspected but it supposedly was when we moved in & can't afford to do it again. Also like you said the lifting up & down of a desk is so infrequent that I don't need it to be motorized, a crank will do just fine. Besides the money though I'll need to find out how heavy the Birch Butchers block is. It's weight plus my PC & whatever else I plan to put on it can't go above the 176lb lifting capacity the Titan legs for $177 I'm most interested due to how low they can go.

At least it'll be a great arm workout

If only it had cranks on both sides so you could get both arms going!

[Mike Soda]

14 hours ago, dizmo said:

At least it'll be a great arm workout

If only it had cranks on both sides so you could get both arms going!

Haha yeah although some of the other ones do enable the crank to be positioned on either side. Hopefully also too after I research em further when the time comes, I'll be able to confirm the height adjustments. Because just like many things on Amazon, it seems they just can't get it right or list the same spec consistently lol.