School bags and neck pain… Tips on what you can do about it!

So what can you do about it?

To some degree it’s about helping your kid get organised. What you want to do is lower that backpack weight to body weight index. This means is making sure they are only taking the books they need to, to school, leaving books in their lockers or classroom during the day and only carting the ones home they need for homework. Sure it’s easy just to jam all the books in at once, but with some careful planning you can start to chip away at some of the excess weight. How you carry your backpack and the type of backpack you use are all important too. Here’s a basic list of how to.

  • Backpacks should be ideally no heavier than 10% of a student’s weight when packed.
  • Make sure the backpack is sturdy and appropriately sized – no wider than the student’s chest
  • Choose a backpack with broad, padded shoulder straps
  • Use both shoulder straps – never sling the pack over one shoulder
  • The straps should be shortened until the bottom of the backpack is just above the child’s waist, and not sitting on their buttocks.
  • When the straps are shortened to this level, the backpack should lie flat on the child’s back.
  • Use waist straps.
  • Don’t overload the backpack – use school lockers and plan homework well in advance
  • Place all heavy items at the base of the pack, close to the spine, for a better distribution of the weight
Chiropractors have been helping manage and address the musculoskeletal discomfort that comes from carrying heavy backpacks in kids. Heavy backpacks combined with prolonged periods of sitting and the use of technical devices such and smart phones and tablets are all adding to the increasing load seen in our clinics today.  Studies such as this are providing the scientific evidence that these lifestyle factors are detrimental to our children and thus having a child checked for these behaviours and damage or injury prior to symptomology can be justified.  Chiropractors are well suited to perform these checks having an excellent understanding of posture and necessary function of the spine in-order to have greater health.

If you are not sure your child’s backpack is correct for them or if they are experiencing discomfort or pain, call reception on 09 623 1578 to book a FREE chat with our chiropractor.

For the more interesting facts on the article, please click here.

Chiropractic Exercise Tips

Here are a few chiropractic exercises that are easy to do and even a few can be done in your office, in between classes, or while spending a few minutes at the park.

Low Back Pain Exercises:

  • Table top. The table top exercise requires you to kneel on all fours, and then lift one of your legs as straight as you can go. The more you do it the more you will be able to lift your leg straighter.
  • Extension exercise.  While lying head down, you must move your head upward but not let your back bend. Do this stretching, until you feel a stretch on your hamstrings. That is as high as you should go.
  • Child’s pose.  Lay yourself in the position that your knees are wider apart than your hips. Turn your toes into touch and push your hips backwards as if in a bow and then stretch your hands forward in a relaxing position.

Neck Pain Exercises:

These following neck exercises provide you with a relief for neck pain. In fact, they are so easy to do that they can be done during your office or classes. This workout will definitely help anyone trying to increase their productivity during a long day.

  • Trap-stretch exercise. All you have to do is lie or stand or sit and bend your head to one side and use your hand on the same side to touch your ear of the other side from over your head.
  • Head Drop. You must take your head as back as possible with your chin pointing towards the ceiling. Don’t bend your back. And don’t stress your neck too much.
  • Turn your head in the way that your nose touches your shoulders, but do not move your shoulders. Do it both sides.

Shoulder Pain exercises:

  • Shoulder Shrug. As the name suggests, you shrug your shoulders. While you are standing or sitting up straight, you lift your shoulders up to your ear length and then while exhaling you let them down.
  • Shoulder blade Pinching. Either standing straight or sitting straight, take your arms to the back and inhale. When you feel your back skin pinching that is when you exhale and bring your arms forward.

Here you have it, a few exercises that will get you through your day and will help you in overcoming the pain. It is recommended that you see a chiropractor regularly if you want to get full recovery. If symptoms persist, consult your medical physician.

10 Best Superfoods To Kick Start Your Day

You’ve probably heard it numerous times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The food you eat in the morning will influence your energy and eating habits throughout the day. So you should start your day with the healthiest meals. To read more, click here.

Happy New Year!

We hope you have all had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday. You will be pleased to know that we are back in action.

Here’s a free information pack from the American Posture Institute regarding to functional movement exercises to kick start the year.