Use The Front Pocket Wallet To Help With Neck And Back Pain Relief

Early in practice, there was no front pocket wallet and I have often told patients to place their wallet in the front pocket to help with low back pain relief, neck pain and deep vein thrombosis; however, most patients don’t comply because wallets are designed for the back pocket and most are too bulky to wear in the front pocket.

Due to alteration in pelvic dynamics, sitting on a thick wallet in your back pocket can lead to sciatica symptoms or a piriformis syndrome that mimics sciatica. This is sometimes called “wallet sciatica”, first described in the Journal of American Medical Association in 1978.

A 2017 article in Current Rheumatology Reviews describes “Wallet Neuritis” as a neuropathy involving the sciatic nerve. The wallet induced sciatic nerve compression causes gluteal and leg pain, tingling, and sometimes burning sensations.

The author notes removing the wallet “radical wallectomy” and piriformis muscle stretching to help relieve symptoms. So, long term use of a back pocket wallet can compress the sciatic nerve and prove elusive for diagnosis and treatment. Now, we can add a front pocket wallet as a great solution.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially recognized “Wallet Sciatica” as a legitimate medical condition. Sitting on a bulky wallet is a leading cause of painful sciatica and deep vein thrombosis, which causes 200,000 deaths annually in the USA.

A 2018 article in the journal Cureus indicates that wallet neuritis and piriformis syndrome should not be used interchangeably, as wallet neuritis is just a type of piriformis syndrome. The sciatic nerve often runs through the piriformis muscle and compression can cause features that mimic true sciatica caused in the lumbar spine origin, for example, disc herniation, and confuse the diagnosis.

So, one thing you may try is placing the wallet in the other pocket to see if this helps. Obviously, this is not a long term solution, since the other sciatic nerve could eventually compress, however, a front pocket wallet would be the best solution. Considering the pelvic imbalance and subsequent alteration of posture and compensation up the spine, using a front pocket wallet is good advice for anyone.

The Front Pocket Wallet is made of the highest grade leather and is the only wallet designed to be carried in the front pocket. It can easily slip into a front pants pocket or shirt pocket and can be carried in a jacket, serving as a deterrent to pickpockets and thieves. The flexible spring money clip does not poke, pinch or jab, whether you’re standing or sitting.

It is a full duty wallet and a back saver. It is much thinner than a regular wallet which makes it comfortable to carry in the front or back pocket without undue biomechanical intrusion. Sitting on bulky wallets can create misalignment and pain in the lower back and hips which may result in compression of the sciatic nerve. The imbalance created can even cause neck pain.

If you carry a billfold or notepad in your back pocket, the additional pressure applied to the hip or leg and can pinch nerves, create muscle imbalance, reduce blood circulation, and tip your pelvis so that it becomes tilted to twisted. This tilting shifts your lower back off center, creating imbalance and extra work for the back muscles, resulting in the neck and back being misaligned. The thickness of your wallet may not seem like much, but if it is in your back pocket daily and you sit for many hours each day, the problems will be magnified and cumulative. This is even more pronounced when riding in vehicles where road vibration compounds the problem.

The Front Pocket Wallet folds thin and flat, eliminating the need to carry a bulky wallet in your back pocket which is known to cause a muscle imbalance leading to sciatica, confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control. A bulky wallet acts like a wedge, raising one side of the pelvis and forcing the entire back and neck to compensate for the resulting imbalance.

The wallet is only 0.12 inches thick and measures 3.3″ by 4.1″ by 0.12″. It is available in 100% genuine leather that is durable and soft. Another great benefit is enhances security with RFID blocking technology to block signals that can electronically scan your wallet. It has six card slots to place your most frequently used cards.

Scientific studies show electrical muscle activity becomes abnormal when using a standard wallet in the back pocket. Note how the muscle stress forms along the lower back all the way through to the neck!