Answer from Mayo Clinic doctors who treat back and neck problems.
| Health tips: Can sitting on my wallet cause back problems? | | | Dear Reader,
Yes, it’s true. Sitting on a wallet all day could be adding to your back woes. That’s in part because sitting that way places your body in a lopsided position, with one hip higher than the other. This can throw your spine out of alignment. It may also put extra pressure on the pads (disks) between your vertebrae and on your sciatic nerve, the nerve that begins in your lower back and branches off down your hips, buttocks and each leg.
Sometimes, people who sit on their wallets for several hours start to notice a tingling or pain that radiates from the buttocks and down a leg. This condition even has a name: wallet sciatica, sometimes called wallet neuritis or fat wallet syndrome. The condition develops when a wallet compresses the sciatic nerve in the buttocks.
To protect your back, consider removing your wallet from your back pocket before sitting. Or keep it out of your back pocket altogether. If you think you may be experiencing the symptoms of wallet sciatica, talk to your doctor. Removing your wallet when you’re sitting may relieve your discomfort. |
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