Can anyone recommend a good ergonomic computer chair?

Try a kneeling chair like THESE Test them out first. The chair forces you to have better posture.

Ultimately, a chair is a personal choice best made after sitting in one for a few hours. Every body is different. Lacking this, I would look to ergonomics. The Swedes are famous for their ergonomic furniture. Many of the designs listed by @Tropical_Willie above originated in Sweden.

Sciatica is when the sciatic nerve that leads from the in the ischias region of the spine to down the back of the legs has been damaged, most often by impact or by being pinched between vertebrae. It takes a long time to heal and healing requires that the nerve not be further traumatised by pressure. The pressure of merely sitting or standing upright, placing weight upon the lower vertebrae can keep the nerve from repairing itself and the pain can be lifelong.

You’ll notice that all the “conventional” chair designs have lumbar support. This helps relieve the pressure on the sciatic nerve.

Many of the “unconventional” ergonomic designs shown in @Tropical_Willie‘s link do just that by displacing a lot of the pressure normally placed on the sciatic nerve to the knee support in the design. This design displaces pressure more efficiently that the lumbar support. This chair was initially meant to be used intermittently throughout the day along with a more conventional design.

The knee-support design.

Here is a more conventional design. Notice the lumbar support, head rest and pay special attention to the divided seat. This design forces a portion of the pressure that is normally placed on the sciatic nerve to the buttocks, thus giving some relief.

I recommend using both throughout the day. I also recommend you look at the IKEA site first for these designs. IKEA has very high standards of production and consumer protection rules and are able to sell these original designs at affordable prices due to mass production. These designs used to be extremely expensive due to limited Swedish production, but IKEA changed all that.

@janbb I know of an excellent 20-minute, very passive exersize you can do twice a day at home or the office that will do wonders for your sciatica if you are interested. It provides enough rest for the nerve to begin to heal—which once the process is allowed to begin, can take nine-months to a year.

@Espiritus_Corvus Yes, please pm me. This has been an ongoing problem for years. It flares up when my shoes are worn down (flat feet, pronated ankles) and when I sit too long in the wrong chairs or wrong position.

So far, I am taking some OTC anti-inflammatories and trying not to sit at the computer for long. That does help some.

An X-Ray a few years ago showed a degenerated disc on my left side and that leg is a wee bit shorter.

@janbb

“So far, I am taking some OTC anti-inflammatories…”

I don’t know if you’re taking it, but I’ve read and heard that prolonged use of ibuprofen can result in kidney and heart damage.

@Brian1946 Thanks. I’m alternating it with aspirin but I hear you.

I used to have one of the rocking kneeling chairs (like this) at my home computer desk. I loved it, my wife, not so much. She bought a regular chair and for a while we had both available but that seemed odd so since I had no objection to her chair but she did to mine I got rid of the kneeling seat.

Sometimes I miss it but based on her feelings I would recommend you either buy an inexpensive one first to see if you like it or borrow one if you can. If you do you can always upgrade later.

Not sure if the kneeling chair would be the best for what ails me since I have a knee problem as well. I think my best bet is to go to a physical therapist or a back relief store and see what they suggest.

I do have one suggestion for your sciatic nerve. My daughter bought an “As seen on TV” knee wrap at Walmart. She swore that it worked. I was very skeptical, but I tried it. My sciatic pain, which happened to be very mild at the moment, was gone almost instantly. I kid you not. So I got one.

At one point, a few days later, I was getting ready to take one of the grandkids for a walk in the stroller. I got as far as the end of the drive way and man…it hurt so bad. Lately, walking in that position, had really caused the pain to flair up. I knew I wouldn’t make it 20 more steps.
I went back to the house, wrapped that brace on….and I swear I walked all over town with NO pain! In fact, I wore it for two days in a row, and now I don’t know where it is, but my back hasn’t hurt since, and it’s been months.

It’s just a wrap with a ball of some sort ball sewn in that presses on the nerve beside your knee that runs up your back. Here is what it looks like.

Please please try it! And let me know if it is as magic for you as it was for me.

@janbb & @Brian1946 Done.

LOL! I just checked to be sure my link worked and I noticed that on the box it reads:

Helps relieve lower back pain due to:
...Ø Lower back pain

Lord. Sounds like a sports announcer!

I work in front of a computer all day long and have a bad back. About 10 years ago I purchased a Herman Miller Aeron chair with the posture fit lumbar support. I haven’t had back pain while sitting since, and it’s still good as new.

It also comes in three different sizes so you can get the right one for your height.