Back to school? Back to work? Taking a trip? What should you consider when buying a new bag?
Be honest, do you know how much your bag weighs? A recent survey of over 1000 women by ‘Aspinal of London‘ found that on average they carried bags that weighed over 3kgs around with them, on a day to day basis! It is more common now for people to be carrying around laptops and tablets between home and work and for children to be carrying more heavy school books and kit to and from school. So what is the best bag to choose?
In general, rucksacks or backpacks are better than shoulder bags or handbags as they spread the load evenly across the back as opposed to just one shoulder. The British Chiropractic Association (BCA) recently worked with ‘Wired‘ to talk about all things backpacks and back pain and review their top picks. The BCA president commented;
Rucksacks are designed to be worn on both shoulders – 58 per cent still don’t, according to research – with the straps adjusted so the bag is a close fit to your back, meaning the weight is evenly distributed.
It’s also important to check the contents regularly to remove what you don’t need and always put heavier items at the bottom to improve your overall balance and stop the bag pulling on the shoulders.
Catherine Quinn, BCA President
The need for regular ‘bag culls’ also ties in with findings from Apinal’s survey, where they found that on average a women carried 17 items in her bag per day!
THE AVERAGE UK WOMAN’S HANDBAG HAUL REVEALED
Source: Aspinal of London
So what are the best options?
For adults and commuters, Wired recommend the ‘Harpsden’ from Knomo
And for kids, a recent review by The Independent recommended the ‘Kanken’ by Fjallraven
And what do we think?
If you are suffering from back or neck pain it is likely that there are a whole host of contributing factors but it is definitely worth looking at what you are carrying round with you on a daily basis and what you are carrying it in! Check out Aspinal’s bag weight calculator here, (or just get your kitchen or bathroom scales out to get a true reading!) and look at ways to reduce this number. If you are still struggling or need more help and advice get in touch with one of our chiropractors and we would be happy to help.