Found out my home office chair is basically a ticking time bomb after 5 years

I was reading this article from Wirecutter last week about office chairs and it said most foam seats lose their support after 3 to 5 years. My chair is pushing 6 years old now and I've been wondering why my lower back has been killing me after lunch. Checked the seat cushion and sure enough it's all flattened out and uneven. Has anyone else had their chair go bad without noticing until their back started acting up?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray_burns8d agoTop Commenter

Yeah, that back pain sneaks up on you, doesn't it? I had the same thing with my chair, just figured I was getting older until I sat in a new one and felt the difference right away. It's wild how slow the foam wears down, you don't even notice until your body starts yelling at you.

fionanguyen8d ago

Oh, I gotta disagree with you there. I don't think it's always the chair's fault or the foam wearing down slowly. Sometimes our bodies change and we don't adjust how we sit or move to match that. I've seen people buy brand new expensive chairs and still end up with the same back pain after a few months because they slouch the same way. The chair might be fine, it's our habits that sneak up on us. Foam compresses sure, but I think we blame the stuff around us too quick instead of looking at how we use it every day.