Carrying a heavy bag puts undue strain not just on your shoulders, but your knees, according to a recent study in the UK. Active! lets you in on the everyday habits that could be damaging your knees

Your knee problems could be the result of carrying heavy handbags everyday, according to new research by the British Chiropractic Association. According to studies, 50% of women suffer pain from carrying heavy handbags -- and now men are also suffering.



"Carrying heavy weights is detrimental to the knees just as weight-lifting and doing squats. The excessive pressure on the cartilage during the movement of getting up from a squatting position creates a grinding down-effect bio-mechanically across the articulating surface (i.e. the cartilage), between the tibia femur and the patella which constitutes the knee joint," says Dr Sanjay Agarwal, Chief of Surgery, Head- Orthopaedics and Traumatology, PD Hinduja National Hospital.

"Extra weight (carried in bags), often poorly distributed across the knees, magnifies the forces across the knee and other joints and is therefore detrimental in the long-term, and can accelerate arthritis," he adds. Those who have to commute vast distances to work should stretch their legs in between travel time, advises Dr Ashish Arbat, Arthoscopic and Joint Replacement Surgeon, Fortis Hospital, Kalyan.