“ Finally a breakthrough for people who carry luggage, laptops, photographic equipment or other shoulder bags...”

- HARVEY KLEIN, M.D.
Director, Brooklyn Pain Therapy Clinic

A message from Dr. Harvey Klein
Some Facts and Figures about Back Injuries

HARVEY KLEIN, MD, BSME, DAAPM
Orthopedic Surgeon
515 Avenue I
Brooklyn, NY 11230
718-253-1414

Re: OrthoTote™

As an Orthopedic Surgeon, Mechanical Engineer and Pain Management Specialist, I frequently treat patients with shoulder, neck and back pain caused by carrying heavy shoulder baggage such as lap-tops, gym bags, camera bags or carry on luggage.

I recently evaluated the OrthoTote™, a device designed to augment the shoulder strap of most shoulder bags.

OrthoTote™ fits on the shoulder under the strap of the bag, and creates a ramp, effectively redirecting the forces so that the bag no longer has a tendency to fall off the shoulder, and so that the vector forces direct the weight of the bag toward, rather than away from the spine. OrthoTote™ also redistributes the pressure over a broader area on the shoulder, thereby minimizing muscle fatigue and trigger points.

This allows the person using OrthoTote™ to stand and walk in correct anatomical alignment, thereby reducing or eliminating the occurrence of orthopedic problems.

I recommend OrthoTote™ as an inexpensive, proactive approach to preventing orthopedic injuries to the shoulder, neck and back for those who need to carry heavy objects on their shoulders.

Sincerely,

Harvey Klein, MD

Some Facts and Figures about Back Injuries

According to The National Center for Health Statistics 1994 Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Second Edition:

Low back pain affects 60-80% of U.S. adults at some time during their lives, and up to 50% have back pain within a given year. Back symptoms are among the 10 leading reasons for patient visits to emergency rooms, hospital outpatient departments, and physicians' offices. Although symptoms are usually acute and self-limited, low back pain often recurs, and in 5- 10% of patients low back pain becomes chronic. Back symptoms are the most common cause of disability for persons under age 45. Treatment is expensive. In 1990, direct medical costs for low back pain exceeded $24 billion. Total annual costs for back pain increase from $35 to $56 billion when disability costs are included.

The most recent statistics released by the Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration (2001) document that of the 1,537,567 reported non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work, 488,277 or 31.75% of all reported injuries involved either the back, shoulder or neck.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation funded research to combat back injury -- the number one reason Americans miss work, after the common cold. Across the country in 1999, more than 420,000 people missed work because of back injury. Each lost an average of 6 days on the job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This phenomenon is not uniquely American either. In New Zealand’s the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) which administers and provides accident insurance for all New Zealand citizens, residents and temporary visitors to New Zealand stated that The New Zealand ‘back problem’ is reflected in direct costs to ACC of about $350 million each year. In a document entitled The Back Problem, the ACC reported that back injuries are potentially preventable, the second leading cause being sustained or repeated awkward postures and movements.

In Canada, the Alberta Human Resources and Employment Department reported in Safety Bulletin BCL004, September 2002 Lifting and Your Back — Some Fresh Ideas, up to 80 per cent of adults will experience back pain at some time during their lives. The section Seven Myths About Back Pain states: "Up to 85 per cent of persons with back pain can’t recall a specific incident that brought on their pain. While heavy lifting or injuries are risk factors for back pain, they don’t account for most episodes of pain."

More and more, the experts are agreeing with your dear Mother too. After years of study, organization like the American Orthopedic Academy of Sports Medicine (AOASM), The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the University of Miami have concluded that bad posture attributes to more back injuries and complaints that trauma from an actual injury. They've concluded that only 10% of back injuries are directly attributed to injury cause by strenuous lifting or trauma. The studies also concluded that 33% of the population is currently experiencing back problems and 85% of the population will experience back pain and/or injury at one time in their life.

Most of these injuries fall into the strains and sprains category and not the more serious rupture or herniation injuries where the discs of the spine become out of alignment. The strains and sprains are in most cases the result of poor posture.

Basically, what the statistics are reinforcing is that only 10% of the population lifts enough to actually injure your back, but a whopping 85% will experience an injury which is assumed to be attributed to lifting related trauma. The reality is that this astounding number can be reduced or eliminated by simply improving your posture. In a nut shell, 90% of all back injuries are preventable.