Backpacks & Your Back
by Moritz Hardwick, D.C.
I spend a few hours a day teaching riveting classes at a local community college and casual observations helped guide me to today’s article.
Today’s subject (and many to come) is something I’m supposed to know a little about: “Protecting your Back – Backpacks and Your Back”. Sound a little boring? Bear with me. Everyone has a back, but unfortunately it didn’t come with an owner’s manual.
In my day backpacks were for hiking and if you wore one to school, you were sure to get beat up by the local bully. Now days, it seems backpacks are mainstream and everyone has one.
Looking around campus I often see people wearing backpacks in not so comfortable manners. Often times, the backpack is filled to capacity with heavy books and the wearer is leaning forward more than 35 degrees to balance themselves against the weight. Sometimes they’re wearing the backpack so low that it should be called a fanny pack. Or, I will see people carrying their backpacks on one shoulder. All three are hard on your back.
Surely we need the books for classes. But a simple remedy to prevent back strain and possible damage would be to leave the unnecessary books in your car (yes, it may be a long haul out to the parking lot, but we all could use the exercise). This will in turn lighten your load and make your spine happier.
Carrying your load on one shoulder is also a strain on the back. It produces stress to one side of the body and often times can cause muscle pain, ligament strain, and spinal related conditions. One of these conditions can be caused by one side weight bearing over long periods, thus damaging still growing discs and vertebrae; that condition is called Scoliosis, which is a lateral curve to the spine. So, a simple remedy, wear your backpack with both arms in the shoulder straps to even out the weight. In addition to this, the backpack straps should be cinched up so that the load is actually on the back and not the bottom.
Be sure in all cases to purchase a backpack with wide soft shoulder straps, and spend a little extra to get the pack that has the padding between you and the books. You’ll be thankful for the extra cushion in the long haul.
In short, long term carrying of a heavy backpack leverages the low back causing weakness and instability. This predisposes the back to sprains, joint caches and even painful discs, resulting in the need for frequent professional back care. That’s where I come in.