Sunday, August 17, 2014

Seat design causing neck strain and health issues!


Take a look at these seats and tell me- why are they all concave and curved forward at the top?!
I understand 'safety' is the reason given for the design, but try having TOS and have to sit in one of these seats for any length of time...you find out pretty fast that your pain is about to flareup!


  

Topping the list of seats that are terrible for TOSers, is the car seat. There has been nothing worse for my pain flareups than having to ride in someone elses car with a head restraint/headrest that pitches forward.
This paper addresses some important issues in car seat design, (Link)Automobile headrests extending too far forward with solutions.
A quote from that paper- "In most cars, the contour of the seat backs do not adequately match the contour of the drivers back and the headrests are too far forward."
As this Forbes article confirms, there are alot of people unhappy with the strain on their neck caused by the car seat head rest.
You may write and express how car seat design is affecting your health (a cause of TOS pain flareup) to:
U.S. Dept of Transportation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

A few ideas for TOSers to adapt their seat:
As the paper suggests, with warning, you may remove and turn your head rest around.
I have to do this or I cannot drive. I may be taking a whiplash injury risk, but leaving the headrest in the curved forward position is not an option for me.
 (Maybe this is not as much of an issue for those living with TOS who are taller?)

My recommendation for furniture for shorter to average people is furniture made by Best furniture Company.
I realised our living room furniture was contributing to my pain because it was SO slouchy, big and caused me to have terrible posture.


Other options to adapt include:
http://www.necksolutions.com/car-seat-neck-support.html

http://www.addonheadrest.com/backpain.html

http://www.amazon.com/Car-Neck-Pillow-Soft-Version/dp/B005C7ZR5O

http://www.amazon.com/Astar-Memory-Foam-Pillow-M139/dp/B002DBS9KM/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1407160243&sr=8-20&keywords=car+seat+neck+support

Happy driving fellow TOSers, gentle hugs~