BACKPACK SAFETY, POSTURE AND TEXT NECK!

Children across Scotland will be heading back to school without much thought given to the weight, style or use of their backpacks.  With use of lockers in schools on the decline, children are being asked to become walking libraries without due consideration of this effect on their growing spines.

How exactly does carrying a backpack affect the spine?  Common sense tells us that a load distributed improperly or unevenly, day after day, is indeed going to cause stress to a growing spinal column and cause postural problems. 

In the Eskbank Clinic we use a particular postural rehab technique referred to as ‘Body Weighting’.  As an example if a person has a low shoulder we may apply a weighted belt, which forces the person to contract the necessary muscles to raise the shoulder.  We usually have the person walk on a treadmill with this weighted belt for a period of 10 – 20 minutes, which is effective for changing posture.  In some circumstances our children are body weighting incorrectly for much longer periods of their day.

Please have a look at the accompanying photos of showing postural changes with a 7lb (front view) and 10lb (side view) backpack.

Neutral Posture: The shoulder and ear are in vertical alignment.

 

10lb backpack causing approximately 26 degrees of Forward Head Carriage.  The head is now forward of the shoulder.

Normal posture from the front would mean eyes, shoulders and hips are equal in height.  This 7lb backpack on one shoulder is causing a pelvic shift to the left, torso bending to the right and the eyes are no longer at the same height.

(PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SCHEDULE YOUR CHILD FOR A POSTURE OR BACKPACK SAFETY CHECKUP)