Students under the weight of a crippling work load
Chad Katarincic
Issue date: 5/7/09 Section: Life
Carrying a bag full of heavy books and sitting hunched over a computer for hours is the life of a college student.
"Most days I have at least three books in my backpack at once, not to mention my laptop and other things in my bag," said history major Charles Egan from St. Norbert college.
"Add in my back injuries from high school football, and most days my back is sore when I get home," he said.
After a long day of carrying books, sitting in desks for hours and finishing homework late at night at a computer desk, most students can relate to back aches.
These activities are necessary to succeed, but they can have serious health risks if people aren't careful. One health risk is the back disease scoliosis.
According to mayoclicnic.com, scoliosis is an abnormal curve of the spine.
Scoliosis is normally seen in children during adolescence, but can develop later in a person's life, according to Dr. Brian Dovorany of Posture and Spine Care Center, located on 2031 S. Webster Ave. in Green Bay.
"Prolong sitting at computers is a major issue as far as spinal health is concerned," Dovorany said. "For people and college students, backpacks can obviously put a strain on posture, and the back as well. Contact sports and other sports like long distance running can also impact someone in a college environment with spinal problems."
The cause of scoliosis is unknown, but doctors have noticed in some cases that it's hereditary. There are certain risk factors that can make a scoliosis curve worse, according to mayoclinic.com.
Risks include a person's sex; female's curves are more likely to worsen compared to male's curves.
Also, the younger a person is when scoliosis appears, the better chance the curve will worsen.
The bigger the curve, the more likely it will worsen.
Curves located in the upper part of the spine are worse than curves located at the lower part of the spine.
Also, children born with spinal problems are more likely to have increased problems with age.
"Most days I have at least three books in my backpack at once, not to mention my laptop and other things in my bag," said history major Charles Egan from St. Norbert college.
"Add in my back injuries from high school football, and most days my back is sore when I get home," he said.
After a long day of carrying books, sitting in desks for hours and finishing homework late at night at a computer desk, most students can relate to back aches.
These activities are necessary to succeed, but they can have serious health risks if people aren't careful. One health risk is the back disease scoliosis.
According to mayoclicnic.com, scoliosis is an abnormal curve of the spine.
Scoliosis is normally seen in children during adolescence, but can develop later in a person's life, according to Dr. Brian Dovorany of Posture and Spine Care Center, located on 2031 S. Webster Ave. in Green Bay.
"Prolong sitting at computers is a major issue as far as spinal health is concerned," Dovorany said. "For people and college students, backpacks can obviously put a strain on posture, and the back as well. Contact sports and other sports like long distance running can also impact someone in a college environment with spinal problems."
The cause of scoliosis is unknown, but doctors have noticed in some cases that it's hereditary. There are certain risk factors that can make a scoliosis curve worse, according to mayoclinic.com.
Risks include a person's sex; female's curves are more likely to worsen compared to male's curves.
Also, the younger a person is when scoliosis appears, the better chance the curve will worsen.
The bigger the curve, the more likely it will worsen.
Curves located in the upper part of the spine are worse than curves located at the lower part of the spine.
Also, children born with spinal problems are more likely to have increased problems with age.
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