Clearing out your wallet might be a pain reliever

By Jeremy Shere

Posted November 17, 2021

Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin

Transcript

Y: Hey Don, can I borrow a buck for the vending machine?

D: Sure. Watcha gonna get?

Y: I dunno. Maybe a Charleston Chew... woah, is that your wallet?

D: Yep. Let's see, I'm pretty sure I have a dollar bill here somewhere...

Y: It's, uh, pretty stuffed. What have you got in there?

D: Just the regular stuff. Driver's license. Credit card. Bank card. Video rental card. Another credit card. Some phone numbers, receipts, a movie ticket stub for...Rocky? Wow, that was along time ago. Let's see, what else...?

Y: Hold on. Do you ever throw anything away?

D: Of course I do, Yael. But I like to hold onto stuff, too. I mean, you never know when you'll need--

Y: A movie ticket from 1977?

D: Ok, I get the point. Maybe my wallet is a little stuffed.

Y: More than a little, I'd say. And for your own health you should really slim it down.

D: Why?

Y: Well, you keep your wallet in your back pocket, right?

D: Yeah.

Y: So when you sit down, the wallet presses on the piriformis muscle, which puts pressure on the sciatic nerve that runs down your leg.

D: So what you're saying is that sitting on my gigantic wallet can give me sciatica.

Y: Right. Over time, sitting on anything, whether it's a wallet on something else, can irritate your sciatic nerve, which causes severe pain in your lower back and legs.

D: All right, so I'll clean out my wallet. And here's a dollar.

A brown wallet with two credit cards sticking out lays on a wooden table

Keeping your wallet in your back pocket can put pressure on your sciatic nerve. (Chris Potter / flickr)

Clutter seems to pop up without us even noticing, even in places like your wallet. What do we even keep in there?

It might seem like you just keep the regular stuff. Driver's license. Credit card. Bank card. Video rental card. Another credit card. Some phone numbers, receipts, a movie ticket stub for...Rocky? Wow, that was along time ago. Let's see, what else...?

Of course we throw things away, but you never know when you might need something like a movie ticket from 1977. While it might not be a big deal to carry this clutter with us, there are some health benefits to slimming down.

If you carry your wallet around, you probably keep it in your back pocket. So when you sit down, the wallet presses on the piriformis muscle, which puts pressure on the sciatic nerve that runs down your leg.

So sitting on a stuffed wallet could potentially lead to sciatica.

Over time, sitting on anything, whether it's a wallet on something else, can irritate your sciatic nerve, which causes severe pain in your lower back and legs.

So slimming down wallets might not be a bad idea, and just carry the true essentials.

Read more

Source