I looked it up online and discovered it's a very common issue wherein the cylinder that serves as the stem of the chair connecting the seat to the feet, which is also what does the raising and lowering, is full of nitrogen gas and the amount of gas breaks down over time. What I have to do is either do a patchwork fix, a more professional fix, or replace the chair entirely.

I'd really rather not replace the chair and the majority of patchwork fixes look really cheap and shoddy. So a more professional fix it shall be.

The site linked above also links over to a product I assume they made and sell on Amazon and it's a simple replacement of the whole cylinder including the tools and video instruction to take it apart.

The product says it's universal fit (~95% fit), supports up to 1,000 pounds of weight, and has a lifetime replacement warranty. Additionally, it has 4.75" of adjustable height which is far greater than what my chair currently has. 

At $39.95 it seems like a relatively inexpensive thing to try and, being Amazon, returns should be fine if not. 

Have any of you tried this sort of fix on a chair? I'm curious what you've experienced.