DALLAS—
Celebrity women love their bags--Victoria Beckham's bag is as big as she is and Cameron Diaz needs two hands to carry her bag.Bags are bigger now because of all the goodies women carry with them.
Laura Whelton is a two bag girl--one for the gym and one for everything else.
Her main bag has become a pain in the neck.
"Typically I put this on my left shoulder and then I have to change it," Laura said. "It irritates my rotator cuff."
"Look what's happening to the spine over here, the spine curved like this," Dr. Yaron Lohr said while pointing to a spine.
Dr. Lohr said he sees more and more women with sore shoulders and backs and he knows why.
He's seen patients carry everything from laptops and cell phones to water bottles and dogs.
"I just happened to be scared one day when I was talking to a patient and a little head popped out the purse purse," Dr. Lohr said. "A little Chihuahua was in her bag."
Health experts say a woman's bag shouldn't weigh more than 10% of her body weight.
Dr. Lohr has a standard question for women patients--how big is your bag?
If the bag is too big it can make muscles contract which can cause tension and eventually spine problems.
"A year goes by, two years goes by with you carrying bags and just getting used to it," Dr. Lohr said. "You are going to have postural problems."
Dr. Lohr said stretching and strengthening exercises can help and a little common sense can go as far as your luggage sized purse.
"We tell our patients to alternate shoulders, if they can try to carry a bag that's lighter and if they're carrying it in their hands to alternate their hands," Dr. Lohr said.
Laura tries to do that but old habits die hard.
"I can feel myself raising my shoulders so I am always conscious of that," Laura said. "I try to relax and stand straight when I carry my bag but it's hard to be mindful of that all the time."
And what about Laura's purse?
It weighed in at 4.5 pounds and don't expect it to get any lighter.
"I'm on the go quite a bit," Laura said. "I want to make sure I have everything available that I might need."
