Posted on 3rd Sep 2011 @ 6:18 PM

Everyone knows how you're supposed to sit in an ergonomic chair: back against the backrest, knees at a 90-degree angle, feet flat on the floor. But what if you're too short to sit like this? Do you have to choose between sitting correctly, and having your feet properly positioned? Do they even make ergonomic chairs for short people?

Turns out, they do -- if you know what to look for.

Short-legged folks might find that a chair with a large degree of height adjustment will suit their needs. The Izzy & Bailey Task Chair, for example, adjusts down to 15 inches or up to 21 inches. It also has an adjustable back and offers a broad range of adjustment to allow for a variety of user postures.

The Task Chair is under $300 at most retailers, which is pretty good, all things considered: As this article points out, it's hard to find budget ergonomic chairs that are suitable for shorter people. This is partly because it's cheaper for manufacturers to concentrate on one demographic, and catering to a larger customer is easier.

Of course, if money is no object, you can always opt for the classic Herman Miller Aeron Chair.

An Aeron chair can run you $800, but if you have the cash, it might be worth it. In addition to having all the adjustable elements you'd expect from an icon of ergonomic comfort, the Aeron comes in three sizes. There are even size selection charts available on the internet to help you figure out which size is right for you. This means that the process of finding a chair that fits is now considerably easier than buying a bra. (And no less important.)

Finally, if you can't find a chair that works for you, or if your desk is too high to make a smaller chair ergonomically practical, you can always use a foot rest. We have, in our time, cobbled together foot elevation tools from everything from packing boxes to children's footstools, but you can opt to get fancy and buy a foot rest created for the purpose. Amazon has a list of 52 of them, from prices ranging from $12.64 to $149.94. The pictured foot rest is the twelve-dollar one, because we are not just short: we are also frugal.