Our kids have to carry a large load on their backs everyday for almost 14 years, even though text books are getting smaller over time they aren’t getting any less lighter for your 5 year old to bear. If your child complains about how heavy his/her backpack is when they go to school, the reason might be very legitimate and not because they just want you to carry it for them all the way up to the doorsteps.

 

In 2013 alone, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission cited 5,415 backpack-related injuries treated at emergency rooms. That’s an alarming number of young children that are being treated for injuries relating to something that most of us overlook. The injuries relating to backpacks range from acute back pain to chronic back pain to other types of damage.

 

Dr. Karen Jacobs a clinical professor of occupational therapy at Boston University and an expert on school ergonomics says “Wearing a backpack incorrectly or wearing one that’s too heavy can be a contributing risk factor for discomfort, fatigue, muscle soreness, and pain, especially in the lower back.”

 

While backpacks are an essential part of a child’s school regime it is always recommended to make sure that the weight of the backpack is not so much that it causes the child to hunch down to support it. Most parents overlook the fact that backpacks are on your child for a large period of time and over the course of a year can result in bad posture and further injuries, which are never a good sign at such a young age.

 

Dr. Jacobs also added “Injury can occur when a child is trying to adapt to the heavy load by using improper postures, such as leaning forward, arching the back, and leaning to one side.” Therefore it is also the parent’s responsibility to check if your child is struggling with their backpack weights. Taking your child’s health and posture is a priority, so the next time your child complains how heavy their backpack is make sure to observe their posture and maybe try to lift it to check if it causes you any discomfort holding it with your hands. If that is the case, your child may need to cut down on the books they’re carrying and consider getting a locker in school.

 

Finally another piece of advice to add on to the findings of Dr. Jacobs is that parents should consider purchasing ergonomic bags with padded straps that take of weight load from the shoulder significantly. While back pain in children is still not as common as that in adults, it is a serious issue that has to be addressed by both parents and educational institutions alike.

With over 3 out of 10 people above the age of 50 suffering from back pain, it is become a common problem that’s only increasing in adults. A lot of times back pain is much easier to address than other type of chronic pains. Over time it has also been seen that back pain may actually be all in our head.

 

When it comes to back pain, our soft tissues that are in our backs begin to heal after we’ve suffered from an accident or just wear and tear, this happens even when you’re above the age of 50. That natural repair takes place over time, whether it’s a week or few months but during that period even when our backs have recovered the brain may continue to send pain impulses that form neurological pathways over time and once those pathways are in place they remain there for good.

 

According to Dr. David Hanscom who is a spinal surgeon, that stress plays a large role in creating those pathways that increase back pain over time. Stress sends our body into fight or flight mode which in turn release adrenaline and puts the body into a heightened state. This in turn causes muscle tension which only alleviates back pain.

 

Dr Hanscom states that the best way to decrease back pain and stop the pathways from getting etched into your neural system is to first address your sleeping patterns. The best way to keep stress at bay and keep your mind at peace is really a good nights sleep. He states that most people with chronic back pain tend to sleep poorly and that results is a poor quality of life.

 

Sleep is so critical to reducing stress and rerouting the brain’s circuitry that Hanscom recommends the use of medication for people who are kept awake by pain or anxiety. Once patients are sufficiently rested, Hanscom prescribes a writing regimen to further distance them from their pain. The object is to write down negative thoughts and then immediately destroy the paper. To keep a journal is to hold on to those thoughts, so journaling is counterproductive, he says.

 

Carrying out some of these basic tasks related to sleep and mental well being play a much larger role in addressing chronic back pain. While some back pain may solely be related to a physical source such as an accident, in most cases stress and mental wellness also play a part in us relieving that back pain which gets worse over time if not tended to.