Backpacks Back Again

She walked into my clinic, her backpack seeming to be as big as she was.  In one hand was a gym bag and in the other was a purse.  Somewhere in there was a laptop in its own case.

I didn't know if I was watching some beast of burden or a new form of weightlifting.  It turns out that she was there for me to take care of her back pain.  Go figure.

Thus begins another episode in my personal tirade about what we are asking our kids to do to get an education:  Carry a backpack every day that is more suited to a week in the wilderness.

I'm a firm believer that if you are going to point out a problem, you should be prepared with a solution.  I thought that was what computers were going to do.  So I'm not sure what to do.

But I know it is a problem.  The first time that I addressed this topic (I've been back there several times), I had just weighed the backpack on one of my student trainers--a 95 pound high school sophomore. That pack weighed 35 pounds and talks had started at her school about the transition to computers for everything. 

Computers arrived but it didn't solve the problem.  I'm not sure why not but I see these school backpacks every day.  They're full of books (which I thought would be obsolete by now).

So what can you do?  First, make sure they fit well.  They're not meant to be slung across one shoulder.  Both straps are supposed to be in their proper place.   The backpack should be in the upper middle part of the back.  It helps to have compression straps around the backpack to keep the load inside from shifting.

The straps should be loose enough so that the wearer can move their arms and shoulders easily.  Those straps should be contoured and fit the wearer.  A strap across the chest connecting the two straps is a great idea.

The American Physical Therapy Association recommends that the weight of a backpack be no more than 10-15% of the weight of the wearer.  That student trainer I mentioned?  Her backpack was 37% of her bodyweight!

The backpack should match the size of the wearer.  I've seen some backpacks that were more like what you would expect to see in a 3rd world country on market day. 

Don't  ask your son or daughter to wear a hip belt.  They will quickly tell you that it isn't cool.  I'm not sure that's a battle you can win.  Same thing with backpacks on wheels.  Even though both of those are good ideas.

Bad posture is the first thing I notice with a too heavy backpack.  The head and neck crane forward to counter-balance all that backward and downward pull.  Back pain happens but what worries me more is the chronic back problems that can happen with long term abuse.

And if your back hurts, see a physical therapist.  This is the type of problem that we see every day.  But in the meantime, what about those computers?