Preventing Back Pain from Backpacks

• Most injuries that occur are muscular in nature, mostly in the upper back but to some extent the lower back.  It is rare for a children or adolescents to injure a disk by carrying their backpacks.

• Most backpack-related injuries are due to improper wearing and packing. Shoulder soreness comes from wearing the pack only on one shoulder or using a pack whose straps are too thin.  Shoulder joint problems come from similar problems with the straps going across the joint with direct force. Wearing the pack too low or wearing a pack that is too large (sits too low on the body) can cause bruising to the lower buttocks and upper thighs.

• I have not found any great correlation between age/gender with the exception that the youngest children seem to be wearing packs that are truly too big for them.  An elementary school child should not be wearing a pack that was designed for a high school student.

• I think that parents create a lot of that hysteria about backpacks because of the large number of books that the children cart back and forth to school.  Backpacks should be just that: a method to transport books.  They shouldn’t be survival kits.  There is no reason a child should be carrying around their books all day long through school—they should be left in their locker.

•  Backpacks have no correlation with creating scoliosis (another old wives’ tale). Many companies create backpacks on wheels, but these seem to have created even more problems than traditional backpacks.  In crowded hallways there is no room for a backpack on wheels.  I’ve seen children that have tripped over them while running through the hallways.  Additionally, it puts more stress on the lower back to have your body slightly turned and dragging something behind you: Ask any traveler through airports.  Also, the wheels make these packs heavy to begin with.

•  The best way to prevent injuries is to “PACK IT RIGHT, WEAR IT RIGHT.”  Put the heaviest and largest books closest to your back.  Have well-padded straps pulled tightly so the packs sit between your shoulder blades and use the belt strap to prevent the pack from bouncing back and forth.  The Sherpas in the Himalayas don’t seem to have a problem carrying heavy loads.  I don’t suggest that children carry these heavy packs all day long but they certainly can transport their needs to and from school.  Schools must give the kids time to use their lockers.

• If your child is having back pain that you think is related to use of a backpack, make an appointment to see your pediatrician or an orthopedist who understands back injuries.  Bring the backpack with you and let the physician show the proper method of wearing the backpack.

Michael R. Marks, MD MBA, of Westport is Vice President of Business Development and President of Norwalk Hospital Physicians and Surgeons.