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Why Herman Miller Chairs Don’t Have Headrests

Some people love it, some people hate it. And no, we’re not talking about Marmite. Today, we’re talking headrests and the distinct lack of them on Herman Miller Chairs. We’re going to clear up some common misconceptions and answer our most frequent questions on the hot topic that is why don’t Herman Miller chairs have a head rest?
Herman Miller Aeron office chair in grey, Sayl office chair in white, Cosm office chair in red and Mirra 2 office chair in black.
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Aeron Graphite/Graphite Office Chair
From € 1.798,00
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Mirra 2 Butterfly Office Chair
From € 1.359,00
To kick things off, let’s take a very high-level view of human anatomy. Our spines are designed to fully support our heads; when we’re walking, running or being active, our head stays nicely supported, all thanks to our neck and the rest of the spine. Our pelvis is a bit like a bowl, and you want to keep it in a relatively neutral position – avoiding tipping it too far forward or too far back. So, why should it be any different when we sit down?
Diagram depicting the importance of correct spinal support provided by an ergonomic chair.

"Our spines are designed to fully support our heads... why should it be any different when we sit down?"

Herman Miller chairs have been designed to support the Sacral region of the spine – the lowest section of the spine that attaches to the pelvis. We call this section of our chairs PostureFit, an area that fully supports the sacral region and promotes a good alignment of the whole spine and pelvis; working in harmony with your body. With this kind of support, your spine doesn’t need a headrest.

The other reason we don’t include headrests is due to the sheer variance from person to person – from the height, shape and depth of everyone’s neck and head, it would be very hard for a headrest to fit all users correctly without compromising neck and spinal health.
Rear view of a woman and man sat in an Aeron and Embody ergonomic chair, respectively.
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Aeron Office Chair
From € 2.173,00
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Embody Office Chair
From € 1.943,00
Finally, all Herman Miller chairs offer a high degree of adjustability – either manually like on Aeron or Mirra 2, or automatically such as on Cosm or Asari. This adjustability helps you to ensure the chair can correctly move with your body; dynamically supporting your body’s natural movement throughout the day.

We hope you agree that we’re not short-changing you here. We’re just trying to help keep you, and your spine in the best possible position all day long.
Adjusting the armrest on a graphite Sayl desk chair.
Adjusting the back support of a graphite Embody ergonomic offic chair.
Engaging forward-tilt on a Lino ergonomic desk chair.