Back pain is a major problem in the United States.
It causes unhappiness and costs money in medical payments and missed work.
You may think that back injuries are caused only by the trauma of an accident, but that is not always true.
Back pain can occur over time when little stresses build up.
The most common cause of these little stresses is the carrying of heavy objects every day.
Adults carry heavy laptops, brief cases, and shopping bags.
Children carry heavy backpacks and book bags.
There is a simple solution to this problem.
This solution was invented thousands of years ago: the wheel.
We need to put our heavy loads on wheels.
Many types of hand carts are available to take your load off your shoulders.
A collapsible hand cart makes it easy to get your load from here to there.
One of the heaviest loads that we have to carry is the suitcase.
Suitcases were put on wheels between twenty and thirty years ago.
The first question is, "Why did it take so long for someone to put wheels on suitcases?" Think back to the days before wheels.
A full suitcase can weigh a lot, and carrying this weight can cause a hard pull on the bones and muscles of the shoulders and upper back.
The only way to handle luggage in a safe manner was to pay a porter or, later, a skycap to put the luggage on a push cart along with the luggage of other people to get it where it needed to go.
These tips increased the cost of travel.
The next heavy load to be given wheels is the laptop.
For years after laptops became a common tool of the business person, they were carried on the shoulder.
A heavy weight on the shoulder pulls on the muscles there and in the upper back.
While laptops are getting smaller and lighter, wheels on the computer bag get the weight off the shoulder on the ground to be pulled behind.
These new wheeled computer bags are large enough to carry all other paraphernalia that the business person might need during a busy day, such as binders, notepads, the phone, and other needed office supplies, or even a change of underwear.
Thirty or more years ago, young students began to stow their schoolbooks in backpacks.
But these backpacks hold more than just books.
The student needs notebooks, pens and pencils, a calculator, keys, and, of course, lunch.
Textbooks are heavy, and school kids are small.
The best way to carry a backpack is with both straps on the shoulders.
However, most kids find it more convenient and "cool" to use only one strap.
A properly worn backpack puts a lot of stress on the small bodies of the students, but a single strap is even more harmful.
These growing backs need the protection of a backpack on wheels.
If we look back, though, we can see that wheels are not a new innovation on all carry-alls.
The wheeled grocery cart can be traced back to the first half of the Twentieth Century.
Women without cars knew it was impossible to carry the groceries for the week without some type of cart.
It causes unhappiness and costs money in medical payments and missed work.
You may think that back injuries are caused only by the trauma of an accident, but that is not always true.
Back pain can occur over time when little stresses build up.
The most common cause of these little stresses is the carrying of heavy objects every day.
Adults carry heavy laptops, brief cases, and shopping bags.
Children carry heavy backpacks and book bags.
There is a simple solution to this problem.
This solution was invented thousands of years ago: the wheel.
We need to put our heavy loads on wheels.
Many types of hand carts are available to take your load off your shoulders.
A collapsible hand cart makes it easy to get your load from here to there.
One of the heaviest loads that we have to carry is the suitcase.
Suitcases were put on wheels between twenty and thirty years ago.
The first question is, "Why did it take so long for someone to put wheels on suitcases?" Think back to the days before wheels.
A full suitcase can weigh a lot, and carrying this weight can cause a hard pull on the bones and muscles of the shoulders and upper back.
The only way to handle luggage in a safe manner was to pay a porter or, later, a skycap to put the luggage on a push cart along with the luggage of other people to get it where it needed to go.
These tips increased the cost of travel.
The next heavy load to be given wheels is the laptop.
For years after laptops became a common tool of the business person, they were carried on the shoulder.
A heavy weight on the shoulder pulls on the muscles there and in the upper back.
While laptops are getting smaller and lighter, wheels on the computer bag get the weight off the shoulder on the ground to be pulled behind.
These new wheeled computer bags are large enough to carry all other paraphernalia that the business person might need during a busy day, such as binders, notepads, the phone, and other needed office supplies, or even a change of underwear.
Thirty or more years ago, young students began to stow their schoolbooks in backpacks.
But these backpacks hold more than just books.
The student needs notebooks, pens and pencils, a calculator, keys, and, of course, lunch.
Textbooks are heavy, and school kids are small.
The best way to carry a backpack is with both straps on the shoulders.
However, most kids find it more convenient and "cool" to use only one strap.
A properly worn backpack puts a lot of stress on the small bodies of the students, but a single strap is even more harmful.
These growing backs need the protection of a backpack on wheels.
If we look back, though, we can see that wheels are not a new innovation on all carry-alls.
The wheeled grocery cart can be traced back to the first half of the Twentieth Century.
Women without cars knew it was impossible to carry the groceries for the week without some type of cart.
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