Is your handbag giving you backache?

As new research links backache with society’s habit of carrying around half our lives on our shoulders, experts tell us how to stay pain free…

How to stay pain free

Cute and stylish clutch bags are great for a phone, credit card, lipstick and not much else, so a big, gorgeous tote or roomy shoulder bag is what most of us choose as the accessory to lug around all our stuff. The problem is, our belongings are getting heavier and heavier.

The average handbag now weighs an incredible 3.04kg, according to a survey of 1,000 UK women by handbag company Aspinal of London. That’s slightly more than carrying seven tins of baked beans or three bags of sugar around every day!

More worryingly, though, the research also found that almost two thirds (63%) of women surveyed said they experienced regular back pain. Experts say causes of back pain are complex, but agree that we aren’t always very good at realising how heavy a handbag might be – seriously underestimating

the weight, according to the survey.

Of course, tech is partly to blame for the load and we’re not just talking about phones. One in six women surveyed carried laptops and chargers in their bags every day, too.

However, this is not the whole story. Doug Jones, physiotherapist at Altius Healthcare in Hale, Cheshire, says that the weight of a bag alone isn’t the only possible cause of back pain. ‘If you’re conditioned to carry a heavy bag there isn’t a maximum weight,’ he explains. ‘Most at risk are people who carry a heavy bag they’re not used to. They may be working somewhere different or going away for the weekend, for example.’

Matt Daly, a member of the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists and advanced practitioner for the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, agrees that it’s more common to develop pain if you suddenly carry a heavy bag your body hasn’t adapted to, but says there are a host of factors that go into our perception of pain. ‘Loads are helpful to allow your body to adapt so that it can get stronger, whether it’s a heavy handbag or a hefty toddler,’ says Matt. ‘Also, how we perceive pain is complex. Whether we’ve slept and eaten well, our emotions and our overall fitness all influence our experience.’

Matt’s key message for back health is to stay active

(see his tips for happy backs, right) but there are also a few common-sense steps to lighten your daily load.