Please click here to receive a FREE SCOLIOSIS TREATMENT INFORMATION KIT ASAP.

Can a heavy backpack cause scoliosis?

This one of the most common questions parents ask me and it is a darn good one.  Can a backpack loaded down with too many books actually be a cause of scoliosis?  Well, probably not a singular cause of the condition, but it can definitely aggravate the condition and potentially make it worse.  Numerous studies have linked over-weighted back packs to over-compensation/ over-use injuries in school children and some have linked heavy backpacks to aggravation of symptoms in patients with scoliosis.

Scoliosis is a very complex condition that is most likey the result of genetic and environmental factors, which a heavy backpack may play a role in......We only know enough to know we don't know enough at this point, but I would recommend that a school aged patient shouldn't carry a backpack that weighs more than 10% of their total body weight.

My office often writes a letter on behalf our scoliosis patients requesting that the school provides them with 2 sets of text books, so they can keep one set at school and one set at home, therefore eliminating the need to transport them back and forth (reducing the load of the backpack).