Tempur-Pedic TP9000 Mesh Task / Office Chair (Black) Expired

You're reading this thread because your back hurts while working at home.

I got some news for you:

1) You're looking at this sub-$200 chair probably because you looked at Aeron's for 2 seconds and decided you can't afford a $1000 chair no matter how much your back hurts. News flash: chairs are not medicine. Chairs cannot cure back pain, and especially not by themselves. It's completely possible, and actually very common, to buy a $1500 Aeron and still sit poorly and end up with back pain. Something as simple as working on a laptop, even while seated in a $1500 chair, can and will cause back/neck pain. Why? A laptop has its screen too low to the desk. Even if you sit in a $1500 Aeron that pushes on your sacrum to create the healthy lordotic curve in your lumbar spine if you're working on a laptop on a desk, you're almost definitely bending your neck down to see the screen, and that means you're using your neck muscles to dangle a 10-pound head in mid-air, and that means you're creating an unhealthy kyphotic curve in your thoracic spine. In other words--if you've only got $200 to spend on upgrading your home office, then I highly recommend starting with the very basic and cheapest fixes, such as elevating your laptop screen to eye height. Or even if you're using an external monitor--most external monitors are too low and lack height adjustment. Most external monitors come with bases that lift the screen like 1.2" off your desk. The base is just a formality. A $40 monitor arm from Amazon would go a long way. A stack of books or papers under an external monitor is free and would also go a long way toward relieving tension in your neck from bending your head down to view the screen.

2) Other common ergonomic mistakes include table height. Maybe you're working at the kitchen table, which is almost definitely too high for you, and you aren't eager to buy a new chair AND a new table. No chair is going to save your health when you're resting your ulnar nerve against the hard edge of the table while typing because the table is too high. If your table is too high, maybe put buy a box of the click-lock laminate flooring or two from Home Depot/Lowes and make a sort of elevated base for your chair. Cheaper than a new table.

3) Maybe your chair is too high for you, and your feet are dangling. That just means more weight is applied to your spine. A footrest would go a long way. Old Amazon boxes make for good footrests and are free. 25% of your body weight is supported by your legs while seated. If your legs are dangling off a chair, then that 25% of your body weight has to be absorbed by something, and it's going to be your spine that takes that burden.

Those are just a sample of the things I see people do wrong--including the people who drop $2000 on a fully loaded Herman Miller chair. They end up buying a super nice chair and forget about everything else, and blame all their problems on the chair. My suggestion is always start with the cheap fixes and then work your way up to the expensive fixes. Something as simple as getting off the laptop and getting onto an elevated external monitor or putting your laptop on a pile of books so you aren't craning your neck downard is cheap or FREE and does a lot more than a garbage $180 chair.

Also, people need to stop thinking about Aeron's. Aeron's are the most popular ergonomic office chair by far, but that also makes them the most expensive. Aeron's are like Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton now.

You can find chairs that are easily 80-90% as comfortable as an Aeron and perhaps even 110-120% as comfortable as an Aeron for way, way cheaper on the used market. Here's a sample list of chairs to look for in your used market if you can't afford an Aeron and don't want this Staples Tempur-Pedic chair that has cinderblocks passing as "armrests":

1) Haworth Very. I got 2 for $25 each. 80-90% the comfort of an Aeron, but for 2.5% the price of an Aeron.

2) Steelcase Think. These can be found all day for $50-80. I have sat in ones from as far back as 2005 and the foam cushion is still very comfortable.

3) Herman Miller Celle.

4) Steelcase Amia. Usually in the $40-200 range, and is easily 90% that of an Aeron.

5) Knoll Generation. Found one for $50, has more features than the Aeron and is easily as comfortable as the Aeron.

Basically stop searching for "herman miller Aeron" and giving up after you see the 25-year-old Aerons ones go for $600 a piece. Use your noggin and search up something else, from another company.

If you MUST buy a Staples chair, then the Staples Ayalon is the only chair worth checking out, in my opinion. I've purchased an Ayalon and put it head-to-head against several Herman Miller/Steelcase/Haworth/Knoll chairs and the Ayalon is, in my opinion, no slouch as long as you are relatively tall (6 feet and above). The Ayalon does a passable imitation of an expensive office chair, and at least the Ayalon has somewhat soft armrests, unlike any of the memory foam Tempur-Pedic chairs at Staples. You'd think that memory foam chairs would be soft, but no, go ahead and check out all the armrests on the chairs at Staples ... the Tempur-Pedic's have rubber-coated cinderblocks.

Thanks for your personal Autonomous referral link... How much do you make per referral again?

My friend got one of these for around $300 a few years ago. He goes through chairs pretty quickly, but this one only last a 2-3 years before he got another one I think.

If you're serious about back pain, you should consider getting a used Herman Miller Aeron. It's great for people that actually work. You can get one for around $350 in my area.

If you want the best of both worlds. A chair you can work in, but also lounge in, consider the Steelcase Leap chair. The Aeron isn't really a chair you can lounge in very well.

Tempurpedic cushion is nice, but eventually it will wear out and go flat just like any other padding. The mesh of the Aeron is still good even on used chairs.