Dr. Chris Boman focusing this month on our kids' spines and how to prevent injuries when heading back to school.
It’s back to school to time! If a backpack is on your list of new items for the kids let me help you pick out the best one to keep your child’s back healthy.
First, no matter how expensive or well made a backpack is, a loaded backpack should never weigh more than 10% of the student’s total body weight.
Before you look for the pack that can hold the most, realize that you definitely do not want to fill it all the way up.
Sometimes a smaller backpack can actually be better because it will encourage your child to carry less weight on their back. When you are looking at styles, steer away from packs with only one strap. It is important to have both straps on the shoulders to distribute evenly the weight.
Only having one strap can stress out the muscles holding up the spine, leaving your child vulnerable to injury. Now that we have a small, two strap backpack, it is important to see how it fits your child.
The height of the backpack should extend from approximately 2 inches below the shoulder blades to waist level or slightly above the waist. The backpack should never hang more than four inches below the waistline.
The lower the backpack sits, the more pressure is exerted on the shoulders, thus causing the child to overcompensate with their shoulder and neck muscles. This could easily cause chronic aches and pains, headaches, and unfavorable changes to the spinal curvatures.
The spine was created to have three curves for a few different reasons. The first is power generation. Many think that their legs are what allow them jump higher, run faster, or lift heavier, but they are actually second to the spine.
Without the proper curves in the spine, the body’s overall performance decreases significantly. Studies show that forward neck posture (thus a straightening of the curve) even one inch can increase the stress on the spine from the head by 10 pounds.
In my practice, it is common to see high schoolers with 1-2” of forward head posture, so choosing a backpack that supports the spine is supremely important. The second reason spinal curves are crucial to getting the most out of your body is to help disperse what would be compressive forces into dispersed forces.
Straighter spines can put much more pressure on the vertebral discs, which can lead to arthritis, degeneration, and pain at a much earlier age. Lastly, straight necks and poor posture can alter the body’s neurology. Poor vertebral movement can change the way the brain perceives the environment, which restricts adaptability. This is why I see so many symptoms, conditions, and diseases improve by simply restoring proper vertebral movement and alignment.
Seeing a chiropractor to help your spine might be the best decision you ever make. If you were in the Inland Empire, I would love to help you out.
Dr. Chris Boman
25032 Las Brisas Rd
Murrieta, CA 92562
(951) 304-2242
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