Back to School: Backpack Safety
The school season is in full swing! By now, most parents, or kids, have already picked out their school supplies and their prized possession… their backpack.
The backpack is their definition of personal expression. Solid pink with key chains. Pictures of superheroes protecting the planet. Sparkling stars with neon stripes you can spot from the parent pick-up line!
To personalize a backpack even more, parents and children should acknowledge the American Chiropractic Association’s (ACA) recommendations for proper backpack mechanics.
Children are still growing. Their rate of growth can be easily influenced by their environments. A backpack can have the most influence on the development of the spine. To promote a healthy growth pattern and to prevent scoliosis related issues, the ACA has developed a checklist to reference when “personalizing” a backpack.
Here are a list of some of our favorite recommendations:
- Try to not carry more than 10% of your body weight in a backpack. Weight exceeding 10% of body weight can start to encourage negative growth patterns before maturation.
- To avoid extra weight, be sure to clean out backpacks daily or at least weekly.
- Make sure a backpack does not hang lower than 4 inches below the waistline. Keeping a backpack higher on the hips will disperse forces more evenly across the shoulders and encourage better posture.
- Use a backpack with adjustable straps so weight can be distributed evenly on both shoulders and through the back.
- Use both straps to carry a backpack!
Another population that utilizes backpacks are college students. They typically have more to carry and further journeys to pursue with a backpack. Similar rules apply: modify the weight of your backpack, utilize both shoulder straps (it is cooler to not have back problems than to sling only one strap around your shoulder for 4 years), and adjust the straps of the backpack when you take it on and off.
We hope these tips help you get a healthy start to the fall school session!
If you have further questions about how to properly utilize a backpack, purse, or sports bag to prevent injury or negative biomechanical influences, please let us know what questions you would like to have answered!
What Is Wellness and How Does Chiropractic Care Help You Achieve It?
“Wellness” has become a buzzword nowadays, especially with the recent introduction of the Affordable Care Act, which places high emphasis on staying healthy and reducing healthcare costs. The American Chiropractic Association defines wellness as “an active process that promotes health and enhances quality of life.” I believe that in order for a person to be well enough to do the activities they enjoy, they must be given the correct tools to help them take charge of their health.
Let’s talk about that stiffness in your neck that you attribute to “old age” when, in fact, you’re only 36. Because that stiffness becomes pain when you play tennis, you rarely play anymore. You’re starting to become sedentary (which is disastrous to your overall health) and you’re not even 40 yet. The reality of this situation is that, likely, the abnormal motion patterns in your neck that cause that stiffness and pain can be corrected with a short course of treatment by a good chiropractor. You can then return to the tennis court, and make a huge contribution to your entire well-being.
Chiropractic care focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. By treating the underlying issues, many symptoms resolve quickly. It is important to note a chiropractor’s approach is drug-free; in addition to their expertise in spinal manipulation/adjustment, doctors of chiropractic are trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises.
If you’re curious about how chiropractic care might help you on your path to wellness, give our office a call. We’d love to set up a consultation (free of charge!) for you to meet with me, and ask me any questions you may have.
