So like I said before in my blog post Every Girl’s Must Have, I love big bags stuffed full of anything and everything!!! Yet, usually I don’t carry them…especially since I have started Purdue. I carry a backpack, thinking that it would be better for my back than a huge bag hung on one shoulder. This is true, yet it still isn’t very good for my back. Your backpack shouldn’t weigh more than 15% of your weight and never over 25 pounds. Out of curiosity I weighed mine and it typically would weigh 15 pounds. Fifteen percent of my weight is 18 pounds, so I am right at the borderline. My back still hurts, though.
If you are carrying a heavy purse, you are more prone to having neck, shoulder, and back pain since there is so much more weight on one side of your body. I know that when I carry a purse, it is always on the same shoulder. It feels so weird if I try to wear it on the other one!! When you carry a heavy bag, you tend to hold that shoulder higher, which can lead back, or neck problems.
So back and neck pain are in right now, the consequences of carrying large, trendy bags. This means that massages are in, too! Even the New York Times have mentioned these problems. Robin Erlich, director of the Eastside Massage Therapy Center in New York City, has noticed that “We’re busier than ever before right now and big bags are the reason.”
But if you can’t afford going to get a massage to ease your pain, try to carry a smaller bag, or at least lighten the weight of your large one. But if you can’t do that, you should try to carry a purse with a long strap so that you can distribute the weight more evenly by wearing it across your chest. Instead of carrying your large tote to class with all your books in it, try a backpack with the one-shoulder strap design. These are the best at distributing the weight evenly.
The next time you decide to lug around your entire room with you think twice about what it might be doing to your posture, neck, and back. Big bags are in for a couple of seasons, but you might have to deal with back problems for the rest of your life.
3 comments:
honestly, being a guy and not fully understanding a purses functionality, i think huge purses are just rediculous. It looks stupid when a girl lugs around a gigantic purse big enough to tote a cinder block!?
But then again, the tiny ones are also weird. can barely cary a cell phone and id in them.... but the big ones are definately worse.
I liked the post. It threw me off gaurd though I kind of thought you were going to talking about big bags fashionably and not how it affects you. It was interesting to know those things though.
I completely agree with your post! I started using this really hot bag I got at H&M, and I think that my right shoulder is permanently higher than my left. Well, maybe not but I can definitely tell that it's effecting my posture and a massage would be greatly appreciated.
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