Do you carry heavy laptop everyday to office? You need to read this now

What do you carry in your office bag? Typically, it must be a laptop, a lunch box, a water bottle, and a few stationeries. Ever wondered how much weight this bag puts on your shoulder? Around 2-3 Kgs. Doesn’t that sound much? Well, carrying a load with this much weight on a regular basis can have a disastrous impact on your health.

According to doctors, consistently carrying heavy bags can lead to long-term changes to your posture.

Dr. Maichand also explained that these problems can also be made worse by poor carrying techniques, such as draping a bag over one shoulder or keeping it too close to the body. This can eventually result in chronic diseases like shoulder impingement, neck strain, and lower back discomfort, he said.

According to Dr Ishwar Bohra, Director Orthopaedics, BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, carrying heavy bag for a long time may harm your shoulder nape and neck muscle.

This constant source of weight on any side of the shoulder creates disbalance between the shoulder blade and restricts normal swing of the arm while walking. This leads to the wasting of muscle in the shoulder region. With time person starts feeling uneasiness and on-and-off aches in the muscles of the shoulder, neck and shoulder blade. If on time it isn’t addressed with the necessary change of carrying pattern of the bag regularly it can lead to spondylitis frozen shoulder and scapular dyskinesia. Once these symptoms start, sleep becomes disturbed which further leads to constant muscle fatigue and pain,” Dr. Bohra told Financial Express.com.

Moreover, Dr. Bohra also revealed that sometime person can develop vertigo as well in which individual can feel dizziness and headache.

How to decrease the negative impact of heavy bags?

According to Dr. Maichand, using ergonomic bags with padded straps, uniformly distributing the weight, and tightening the straps to the body can decrease the negative impacts.

“To ease the strain of carrying laptops, choose models that are lightweight, or use a rolling bag. It is possible to lessen the harm that is done to the body’s structure and function by taking regular pauses, engaging in stretching exercises, and adopting good posture while carrying bags or laptops. If discomfort or suffering lasts for a longer period, consult a doctor for a thorough analysis and personalized guidance,” he told Financial Express.com.

Here are some do’s and don’ts:

• Weight should be a minimum.
• Can be held in hand with a wheelbase trolley.
• Shoulder and neck muscle should be given rest
• At regular intervals, mild stretching is of great help.
• Shoulder Rotator cuff strengthening exercises and neck exercises are mandatory to avoid long-term consequences.