Safety Moment
Why you should never put your wallet in your
back pocket
Description
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Fat wallet on back pocket usually have a susceptibility
to damage main nerves which runs in lower back part
leading to extreme pain. This phenomenon is usually
addressed as fat wallet syndrome or wallet
neuropathy.
It is a neuromuscular condition which involves both
sciatic nerve and piriformis muscle. The clinical
presentation of this syndrome is Pain upon sitting,
standing, or lying for prolonged durations, numbness
in foot, and difficulty in walking.
A back-pocket wallet can trigger piriformis syndrome,
also known as “fat wallet syndrome” or “wallet
sciatica.”
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“If you’re sitting on a wallet, you’re sitting unevenly
and it compresses one side of your back,”
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An obese wallet can cause pain in two ways.
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It can compress the piriformis muscle – a muscle
deep in the buttock, which functions to externally
rotate your hip when walking. That in turn can irritate
the sciatic nerve. Its branches travel either above,
below, or right through the piriformis (varying for
each person) from the lower back through the hips
and buttocks and down each leg.
Insights and learning
•
Remove loose change, old
receipts, unwanted cards, and
other bits and pieces.
•
Use digital wallets on your cell
phone to keep your driving license,
Aadhar card, RC card & insurance
copies.
•
Ideally, use thin wallets on your
front pockets and not the back
ones.
•
While driving or sitting, try to
remove the wallet from your
pockets.
•
Exercise regularly.
References
Fat Wallet
Sciatica Exercise
1