office chair cushion for hip pain
Your office chair shouldn’t be a literal pain in your butt. If your chair doesn’t offer supportive, comfortable padding for working long hours at your desk, an ergonomic seat cushion is the best budget alternative to buying a better chair. After nearly three months of researching 17 seat cushions and testing 11 of them, we recommend the Purple Double Seat Cushion because it offers two levels of firmness, stays cool, and holds its shape all day thanks to its unique gel-lattice construction.
The Purple Double Seat Cushion propped us up with a cushy springiness unlike any other seat cushion we tested, offering firm support without being stiff. We liked that you can flip the cushion, so it’ll feel good whether you prefer soft or hard seats. And we also love that it doesn’t run hot thanks to its unique gel honeycomb design. Some people might not like this cushion’s wobbliness—it’s kind of like being perched on a large, gelatinous Belgian waffle—but that’s part of what makes it feel so light and airy to sit on.
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The Tempur-Pedic Seat Cushion is a thin, medium-firm seat cushion with a gentle give. Because it’s 1½ inches thick (except for the raised edges and middle contour), the Tempur-Pedic won’t raise you as high as thicker seat cushions like the Purple Double or our budget pick, the Xtreme Comforts, cushions—which might be ideal if you want just a little extra padding but not so much that you need to adjust your workstation for the best ergonomic fit. The ridge between the legs helps you keep your knees and thighs appropriately hip-width apart, but that contouring might not be comfortable for everyone.
At 19 inches wide, the Xtreme Comforts Large Seat Cushion is one of the roomiest seat cushions we have tested (most other cushions are 15 to 18 inches wide). That reduces the likelihood of the seat cushion being too narrow to support your lower body, but you’ll need to check your chair’s seat width to make sure it will fit. Although it’s almost twice as thick as the Purple Double and the Tempur-Pedic, the Xtreme Comforts cushion is very soft, so you’ll sink into it much more than you would with those firmer yet thinner pillows. Most of our testers liked the cushion’s spongy feel, but it does run hotter than our other picks.