Heavy Backpacks and their Effect on the Spine

           

          When walking around a college campus or a school, it’s hard to ignore the huge, heavy backpacks students carry. This isn’t something that is seen only in colleges and high schools, it’s something that is seen even in elementary schools; small children carrying backpacks that are half their size stuffed with books. Carrying this much weight on one’s shoulders cannot be good for the back. Wearing a heavy backpack can cause one’s spine to compress unnaturally or can cause the student to lean forward, causing poor posture. Back problems are already fairly common in adults, is this something that can become problematic in children and young adults as well?

            According to the Einstein Healthcare Network, back pain is described as either acute, short episodes of pain, or chronic, ongoing pain. Acute pain usually lasts for no longer than six weeks whereas chronic pain lasts longer than three months. Common problems can include arthritis, bulging disks, osteoporosis, scoliosis and slipped disks. There are many different causes of back pain. Some causes include sitting incorrectly or in an unsupported chair, standing for too long, stress and lifting something incorrectly.

            Backpacks are another cause of back pain. There are many problems that can occur because of a backpack that is too heavy. They can cause unnatural compression of the spine, poor posture or even cause nerve damage if the straps of the backpack are too tight. Wearing a backpack correctly and making sure it isn’t too heavy are two very important tips, according to Teen’s Health.

            “There’s a lot of research out there that shows backpacks weighing more than about 15 percent of your body weight will force you to kind of bend forward to compensate for the weight of the backpack,” said Thais Mollet, a physical therapist at SpineNevada.

            Mollet said that the bending forward can cause low back pain because the forward lean would bend a person at the hips, therefore shortening their hip flexors. Another problem area could be the neck because of the need to look where one is going while leaning forward, which would strain the neck. While these injuries could most likely be treated, there is a possibility that by wearing a heavy backpack, one could get a herniated disk because the force of the backpack could put the disk at risk. A herniated disk happens when the lining of a disk is torn and the soft inner disk material becomes exposed which can cause pressure to the nerves nearby.

            “As far as a really serious injury like a spinal cord injury, I think that would be really pretty rare,” Mollet said.

            Luckily, the majority of injuries that could occur due to heavy backpacks would most likely be treatable, according to Mollet. However, that is not a reason to not be weary of heavy backpacks. It is important to make sure not to put too much weight on one’s back and shoulders or wear backpacks in an awkward way in order to prevent injury.

            Another problem with backpacks is when children don’t wear them on both shoulders.

            “When you wear something on one shoulder that’s the worst case because you’re engaging the muscles asymmetrically so one shoulder becomes high and then other things start compensating down lower,” said Dr. Sheri Barainca, a chiropractor at Reno Family Chiropractic.

            With backpacks, it’s really important to make sure that the weight is distributed evenly and it’s important, again, to make sure that the weight is not too much for the child. When people wear backpacks on only one shoulder, it causes the spine to go out of alignment because one shoulder is higher than the other.

            “I’ve weighed kids’ backpacks, sometimes they’re carrying 20 to 30 pounds,” Barainca said.

            The physical stress that can occur from heavy backpacks can cause a subluxation. A subluxation is a displacement of bones in the spine that causes damage to the spinal cord. In order to prevent these problems, carrying a backpack with less weight or getting one that has a waist strap, moving some of the weight off of the shoulders, are two good ways to prevent injury to the back. 

            Carrying a large amount of weight on one’s back can also cause degeneration, leading to back pain.

            “If you put more stress on your disk space, you’re more predisposed to back pain,” said Dr. Brett G. MenMuir, a certified spine surgeon at the Reno Orthopedic Clinic, who sees people from babies to people in their 80’s or 90’s.  

            MenMuir stated that wearing a heavy backpack can make people more predisposed to degeneration in the spine. He also said that this would most likely not cause a serious problem but would definitely cause pain. It’s important for kids to make sure that they don’t carry too much weight because it could affect their posture which can cause neck problems, as well. MenMuir also said that heavy backpacks can cause degeneration of the spine.

            As a solution to this problem, MenMuir suggested putting fewer books in a student’s backpack, maybe having two sets of school books. He also said that a rolling backpack would be a good idea.

Interestingly, carrying heavy weight can cause problems in other areas besides the back.

            “I get people who complain of knee pain from carrying heavy loads,” said Jessie Fisher, director of Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine at Northern Nevada Medical Center.

            She said that one pound of weight can be equivalent to seven pounds in one’s joints, causing a lot of pain. When it comes to backpacks, Fisher stated that if they are too heavy, they can cause problems in any of the joints but she particularly talked about the spine.

            “Wearing a heavy backpack alters the natural curvature of the spine,” Fisher said.

            Coupled with the bad posture that many people have, backpacks can cause serious pain and stress in the back and neck. With any back problem where the back is put in a weird position, one’s neck will follow and be put in an awkward position as well, which can cause pain.

            Fisher also mentioned that backpacks should be fitted properly and they should be supported. Many people wear the straps on a backpack too loose which causes them to not fit well and causes strain on the lower back. However, Fisher did say that a backpack is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to back pain. Many people have posture problems from other everyday activities and those problems, in addition to carrying heavy books in poor fitting backpacks, can lead to a lot of back pain.

            When something, like a heavy backpack, causes the body to not work the way it is supposed to, it tries to compensate.

            “The body was designed to be a certain configuration for balance,” said Dr. Vincent Casey of Casey Chiropractic. “When there’s an imbalance, then your body tries to protect the area, so muscles will splint up, joints will get jammed, all sorts of stuff will start happening.”

            Casey believes that backpacks can cause imbalance, particularly in high school and college students. The damage is reflected differently in each person, though, depending on how he or she carries the backpack. He said that some students walk in a hunched over manner so they don’t fall over backwards and some students may carry the backpack to one side or the other.

            “A prolonged stress on the body’s going to cause problems because it just manifests and multiplies over time, Casey said, “With the spine, if that stress keeps working, it, it deteriorates, sometimes it fractures or sometimes the body compensates by putting spurs around the bones into the muscles and ligaments to help stabilize it more.”

            Casey said that when working on a case where a student is having back problems because of carrying a heavy backpack, he would work on posture when doing everyday things such as eating, sleeping, doing homework and doing recreational things. Many back problems develop because of bad posture when people do every day activities.

            There are many kinds and causes of back problems. Some problems are genetic; others are developed or occur because of an injury or even lifestyle choices. Since there are many problems, there are also many different options when it comes to treatment: chiropractors, surgery, and physical therapy are just a few. As these interviews have shown, each practitioner has different thoughts about backpacks and back problems but many of the themes remain the same.

            Backpacks need to be worn correctly as to not cause serious posture problems and pain in students of all ages. Students seem to have so many things to carry in their backpacks that it is hard to see a way to avoid heavy backpacks. Many of the doctors and therapists that were interviewed discussed how negatively backpacks can affect posture, causing stress on the neck or lower back and leading to pain. Although it would be rare to have a serious injury from heavy weights on one’s back, there is absolutely a risk of pain and problems in the future with hunched over posture. Ultimately, backpack safety needs to be paid attention to more so that more injuries do not occur.

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