The Good, the Bad and Why Oregon Aero Seat Cushion Systems Are Painless: The Story With Pictures

	Oregon Aero Painless Sitting
	X-Ray: Oregon Aero Painless Seating Position
	Why Are Conventional Seats Painful?
	X-Ray: Conventional Painful Seating Position
	X-Ray Comparative Data

"Sit up straight!" It turns out your parents were right. Sitting straight helps create a smooth lumbar curve, essential for seating comfort. But it’s impossible to sit correctly in conventional seating, which is why sitting is painful. Oregon Aero seat cushion systems, on the other hand, provide pain-free sitting. Here is the story in pictures.

Oregon Aero Painless Seating: Proper Lumbar Curve and Pelvic Position

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• Painless Sitting! • Pelvis rotated forward • Smooth lumbar curve

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• Pelvis and lumbar in painless position • Pelvis rotated forward • Ideal angle between vertebrae • See x-ray

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• Closeup of lumbar vertebra and disk in painless position • Loose, no strain or stress • Ideal relative surfaces of adjacent vertebrae • Remember: disks are naturally wedge-shaped • See x-ray

4		PAINLESS SEATING WITH OREGON AERO CUSHIONS • Pelvis is rotated forward • Smooth lumbar curve • Shoulders and head shift effortlessly into painless position • Shown with Portable Universal SoftSeat™ Cushion, but same painless seating occurs with all Oregon Aero seat cushion systems.
	A carefully placed pelvic rotator repositions the pelvis, which restores the lumbar curve. A gentle lumbar cushion (not one that pushes hard) stabilizes the lumbar curve. When this is done, the head and shoulders move back to an effortless, painless, upright position. No more slouch, no more pain!

X-Ray of Person Sitting In the Oregon Aero APECS™ I Ejection Seat Cushioning System

While these x-rays and data compare ejection seats, the same improvements will occur with any Oregon Aero seat cushion system, compared to conventional seating.

	This x-ray should convince anybody who's still a skeptic! It shows that what we illustrate with models and say with words IS TRUE. The position shown in this x-ray is ideal for painless sitting. This position also produces the greatest resistance by the spine to injury from a vertical acceleration in the straight-up "Z" axis of the spine.
Click on photo above to enlarge.

Line A:	Horizontal datum (point from which other data is measured).
Line B:	Angle of the pelvis relative to the Line A. Angular difference from the horizontal datum (Line A) is +13°. Ideal position.
Arc XX :	Radius of the lumbar spine, 24.5 cm. Ideal position.
Line C-1:	Surface of the vertebra relative to Line D-1, the surface of the adjacent vertebra (i.e., angular measurement of the vertebrae relative to each other). Angular difference is 9°. Ideal position.
Line C-2:	Surface of the vertebra relative to Line D-2, the surface of the adjacent vertebra (i.e. angular measurement of the vertebrae relative to each other). Angular difference is 7°. Ideal position.

STILL WANT MORE? Read additional independent and Oregon Aero research.

Why Are Conventional Seats Painful?

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• Our body weight lands on the pelvis’ ischial tuberosity (the "sits bones") but the center of gravity of the upper body is behind the sits bones — SO

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• The pelvis is rotated back, down and around the sits bones. This flattens the lumbar spine and compresses the anterior (front) of the disks at the lumbar spine (see two closeup photos), causing pain.

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• Anterior surfaces of wedge-shaped lumbar disk compressed to parallel position by pelvic rotation back and down • Undesirable, painful position • Produces low back strain, pain • Remember: disks are naturally wedge-shaped • See x-ray of conventional/stock cushion

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• Using cushion to push on the lumbar doesn’t overcome gravity! • Pelvis tipped back and down • Anterior surfaces of wedge-shaped lumbar disk compressed to parallel position • Undesirable relative surfaces of adjacent vertebrae • Painful position • Produces low back strain, pain • See x-ray of conventional/stock cushion

5		Our instinctive response is to try and place pressure under the pelvis by slouching or using some kind of lumbar support, but this results in a complete curvature of the spine, compressing all of the disks up to the neck. Look closely at the spine photo and at Mike slouched in his office chair. Look (and feel) familiar? Note the top of the spine is rotated forward. This is felt as a tendency for the head and chest to fall forward and compress the diaphragm area of the upper abdomen. So — with great effort — we try to sit straight and pull our shoulders back. All of this is our clue that the pelvis is rotated back and down and that our back will hurt eventually, no matter what we do with lumbar cushions!
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Oregon Aero designs all our cushion products in order to provide a gentle rotation of the pelvis. This rotation restores the lumbar curve and removes the compression strain from the spinal disks (see spine photos with Oregon Aero seating).

X-Ray of Person Sitting In a Stock Ejection Seat

While these x-rays and data compare ejection seats, the same improvements will occur with any Oregon Aero seat cushion system, compared to conventional seating.

	The position shown in this x-ray produces low back strain and pain. This position also diminishes by 50% the spine's ability to withstand a vertical acceleration in the straight-up "Z" axis of the spine.
Click on photo above to enlarge.

Line A:	Horizontal datum (point from which other data is measured).
Line B:	Angle of the pelvis relative to the Line A. Angular difference from the horizontal datum (Line A) is -6.5°. Undesirable, painful position.
Arc XX :	Radius of the lumbar spine, 76 cm. Undesirable, painful position.
Line C-1:	Surface of the vertebra relative to Line D-1, the surface of the adjacent vertebra (i.e., angular measurement of the vertebrae relative to each other). Angular difference is <1°, not even measurable. Disks are compressed. Painful position.
Line C-2:	Surface of the vertebra relative to Line D-2, the surface of the adjacent vertebra (i.e. angular measurement of the vertebrae relative to each other). Angular difference is <1°, not even measurable. Disks are compressed. Painful position.

Comparative Data: Oregon Aero X-Ray Vs. Conventional Seating X-Ray

While these x-rays and data compare ejection seats, the same improvements will occur with any Oregon Aero seat cushion system, compared to conventional seating.

Data	Number Considered Ideal for Painless Sitting & Injury Resistance	Oregon Aero Seat Cushion System	Conventional/ Stock Seat
Pelvic Angle	12° - 13°	+13°	-6.5°
Lumbar Radius	24 - 25 cm	24.5 cm	76 cm
Relationship of adjacent lumbar vertebrae	7° - 9°	7° - 9°	<1°