What is the most common complaint that brings a patient into a chiropractor’s office? Back pain, right? Although back pain is not a new issue, there is a relatively new cause for this pain: racerback gaming chairs. You might not have heard of these chairs, but they are growing in popularity, especially among video gamers. With the rise in web-based platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, more and more young people are making careers playing video games for live audiences and creating content for their followers. Racerback chair companies are marketing their products to gamers by making their chairs with a sleek and customizable designs. Several companies, like XRacer, even offer affiliate programs to content creators incentivizing them to advertise the chairs to their audiences. Big-name content creators such as Pewdiepie have sponsorships with racer chair companies like Clutch and have their logos placed on a line of chairs for their viewers to buy.
There’s just one problem with these chairs. The racerback chair is specifically designed for high-speed vehicles, not stationary video game players. For a driver experiencing drastic acceleration changes and sudden lateral movements, the racer chair is designed to reduce the impact that movement has on the driver. So why would someone sitting in the comfort of their own home need that kind of support? They really don’t. Actually, these chairs offer very little support to video gamers. Despite how cool they look, these chairs are causing a lot of pain for gamers. The wings on the side of the chair, meant to stabilize a driver, cause the gamer’s shoulders to be pushed forward. When this position is held for a long period of time, symptoms such as upper and middle back pain can occur. This poor posture promotes upper cross syndrome which has a negative impact on the neck and shoulders. To further complicate things, these chairs don’t come with built-in lumbar support. So prolonged use can lead to low back pain and even sciatica. Content creators spend hours sitting in front of their computers focusing on delivering the best entertainment for their audiences. But these chairs are preventing gamers from being able to perform at their best for their followers.
The good news is that chiropractors are experts at getting rid of back pain! Chiropractors have the unique opportunity to help this population of gamers. Not only can chiropractors encourage them to get adjusted, but they can also educate the gaming community. Chiropractors can spread awareness of this issue as well as provide the solution. Gamers often have a very active social media presence. With the rise in platforms such as TikTok, chiropractors can use these social media avenues to educate this community about the importance of getting adjusted and maintaining a good posture. Creating videos demonstrating stretches and exercises to counter upper and lower cross syndrome can be very powerful teaching tools that can reach a large audience. Many content creators are starting to look for alternative chairs that offer more support. Chairs from companies like Herman Miller offer an ergonomic office chair solution. However, Herman Miller chairs are very expensive, so it would be helpful to have alternative options to offer.
I’m married to a Twitch streamer, so I’ve seen firsthand how big this problem is. When my husband first started streaming, he bought a DXRacer chair just because it was cool and all the other content creators with big audiences had one. After sitting in the chair for hours a day and weeks at a time, he started complaining of constant back pain. Fortunately, he found a local chiropractor who explained the link between his pain and the gaming chair. Within a month of getting adjusted and replacing his gaming chair, his back pain resolved.
This is just one example of how chiropractors can meet gamers where they are and solve their problems. With the ever-expanding social media market, chiropractors can take advantage of these platforms to inform and educate the gaming community.
External Links:
- https://www.dxracer.com/collections/gaming-chairs?gclid=Cj0KCQiAuvOPBhDXARIsAKzLQ8G3mdZ45UWuUTzrxYEXwBUed_VsaJW6Z8bBv-9CHa0lMjnShgxDRHsaAkNREALw_wcB
- https://usa.clutchchairz.com/collections/sale?gclid=Cj0KCQiAuvOPBhDXARIsAKzLQ8HGoQz373VbIbtJsVqDo9NC8xKdiwQM5104NsLQoBtBJj2f5_BiTasaAgvgEALw_wcB
- https://www.hermanmiller.com/
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