ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Are you suffering from Fat Wallet Syndrome?

Men do not carry purses to keep the money or credit cards, so they keep their wallet in their back pocket which over time commonly gives rise to a condition called “fat wallet syndrome.” Most men don’t even think about something so simple could be causing harm to their body, but indeed they can be causing a variety of symptoms including low back pain, hip pain, and knee pain. This can lead to compression of the sciatic nerve and compromise the piriformis muscle.

When people sit with a wallet in their back pocket, this causes your pelvis to tilt to one side, which puts extra stress on your spine. The thicker your wallet the more stress you put on your low back and pelvis. This causes abnormal stress on your low back, intervertebral disc, nerve roots and low back muscles. “Fat Wallet Syndrome,” is better known as piriformis syndrome.

It’s not the spine that is compressing the nerve in “Fat Wallet Syndrome,” but rather the muscles in the hip, specifically the piriformis muscle. The piriformis is a muscle that lies deep within your hip and gluteal area.

Many of the symptoms of piriformis syndrome are the same as sciatica, including pain, numbness, tingling, and burning sensations that radiate out from the buttocks to the thigh and further down the leg. The pain is considered to be due to the piriformis muscle compressing the sciatic nerve, which can result from simple activities such as sitting on a car seat, walking or running. In some cases the pain may be so severe that the individual tries to avoid putting pressure on the injured side.

So what can be done to help it? Simple! Take your wallet out of your back pocket when you sit or drive.

Men aren’t the only ones that can get piriformis syndrome. The same type of mechanism happens when women cross their legs. Sitting like that causes your pelvis to rotate and tilt. When you are sitting with a sideway pelvic tilt it causes your spine to create an abnormal curve, which can transfer all the way up to your shoulders causing them to becoming uneven. When your shoulders are uneven, it causes your head to be tilted as well. So you can see how this can snowball to bigger and bigger problems.

Who knew that the little things we do on a daily basis could be putting quite the strain on our bodies.

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Dr. Wayne M. Fichter Jr. is a chiropractor at Natural Spine Solutions. The business is located at 3913 Schreiber Way in Coeur d’Alene. For more information, please contact us at 208-966-4425.