Beware, ‘supermarket syndrome’ may leave your spine hurting

Almost every day I treat one or two patients, at least, in the OPD with a spine slip disc — cervical or lumbar — after lifting heavy packages at various prominent supermarkets.

As a spine surgeon, it’s my duty to throw some light on the issues that can arise after lifting packages, which are extremely heavy, at supermarkets or even in general. It could eventually lead to major orthopaedic spine problems.
People tend to flock to these supermarkets over the weekends, during sales or at the start of the month.
First, there is the struggle to find parking space and then the queue to buy household groceries, cosmetics, food items, home appliances, etc
The biggest problem is that most people don’t know when to stop shopping. They tend to buy goods as if there is no tomorrow. In the end, one realises that they have purchased items that weigh 40kg at least. Now, the next task is to transport the bought goods to the vehicle, which could be parked 1km or half a kilometre away.
Most lift the heavy parcels and walk the distance to their car or two-wheeler or a public mode of transport.
The next challenge is loading the heavy shopping material into the vehicle and this again strains the back, lumber spine and cervical spine.
Lastly comes the offloading and getting the heavy packages to the house or shop.
This is exactly what I call the supermarket syndrome. The orthopaedic implications of this are severe and include:
SPINE SLIPPED DISC
I have seen an increase in lumber and cervical spine slip discs which lead to Brachialgia with severe encapsulating pain in patients, many of whom have to undergo surgery. One may also experience lumbar
spondylosis, which in turn leads to a lot of wear and tear in the spine. Over a certain period of time, spine damage becomes irreparable and leads to chronic pain.
SHOULDER PROBLEMS
Lifting heavy packages leads to rotator cuff tear and even shoulder joint labral tear.
WRIST AND ELBOW ISSUES
There could be tendon rupture and ligament injuries
KNEE INJURIES
Lifting heavy packages could lead to twisting of the knee and ligament injuries
What measures should one take in order to avoid these health risks? You must try to restrict your shopping to a limited weight that depends upon your body weight, physique, fitness and strength. Attention has to be paid to reduce the load on the back, neck and other joints.
— The writer is a consultant spine surgeon
(Dr Ajay Kothari)