Bags that can be a pain in the

By: watches2010 Mood: Date: 02/01/2010 03:55:24 Music: None

BIG handbags have become a fashion must-have - not least because of the extra room inside them.

But women carrying the super-sized and often overloaded accessories may be putting their health at risk.

Chiropractors say they are considering issuing a medical warning after seeing increasing numbers of 'heavy-handbag related injuries'.

The patients usually report neck injuries, said Karen Erickson, of the American Chiropractic LEDFlexible Strip Dropper Series Dropper-3528 Association. 'When a patient comes in complaining of these symptoms, I walk over and pick up her bag and without fail, it weighs a ton,' she said.

The craze for so-called 'power bags' has been led by celebrities such as Kate Moss, Victoria Beckham, Sienna Miller and Heidi Klum.

Although these stars are unlikely to fill their bags to the brim, many of the young women who copy them will do so. The bags can be heavy, too. One designed by the singer Beyonce has a metal decoration that weighs a pound.

Dr Jane Sadler, of the Baylor Health Care System in Texas, said it was common for young women to carry embroideredpatches bags weighing ten pounds or more.

She added: 'If you think about how you carry a bag, it's usually on one side and you pull your neck to one side and lift your shoulder. It's a very unnatural position. It creates strain along the neck and into the nerves.' An American study released yesterday said women carry twice as much in their handbags as their mothers did. Typical contents include MP3 players, mobile phones, headsets, laptops, bank cards, makeup bags, water bottles and keys.