The Medical Reason New Yorkers Need to Stop Carrying a Wallet

I've been injured by my wallet and it turns out I'm not the only one.

Originally, I just chalked up the throbbing pain in my leg to old age. But I was flabbergasted to learn that my wallet was to blame.

My wife and I had planned a weekend getaway to Atlantic City. Not huge gamblers, we were looking forward to dinner and a show, but planned on hitting some of the tables during the day.

Before heading down to New Jersey from the Hudson Valley I had visited the ATM and taken out a little wad of cash to gamble with. Little did I know that it would lead to my physical suffering.

During the three-hour drive, I began to feel a sharp pain in my leg. I assumed it was a cramp from driving for so long, so we stopped and I attempted to walk it off. After feeling better, I hopped back into the car. After a few miles of driving the pain returned with a vengeance.

While I was still able to have a fun weekend in Atlantic City, the pain continued to haunt me. I've pulled muscles before, but couldn't figure out what I did to my leg to cause it to continue to hurt. That's when I finally discovered that it was my fat wallet's fault.

"Fat Wallet Syndrome" is Real and Dangerous

It turns out that I was suffering from sciatica caused by sitting on that wallet filled with cash I intended to lose gambling, or as scientists call it: "Fat Wallet Syndrome".

In recent years, doctors have been warning patients to avoid sitting on an oversized wallet, as it's become a main cause of sciatica in patients complaining about leg pain. A study published by the International Journal of Medical Research &
Health Sciences calls Fat Wallet Syndrome an "epidemic in men".

Sciatica is pain that stems from the sciatic nerve which runs down the back of your leg to your foot. When you sit on a wallet, the nerve is pinched between the wallet and your leg muscle, resulting in terrible pain and damage to the nerve.

Luckily, most cases of sciatica will heal with time. However, those who continue to sit on their wallets can eventually wind up doing serious damage to their bodies.

Time to Ditch Your Wallet For Good?

Unless you're headed to the casino with a fat wad of cash, there's really not much need to be walking around with a fat wallet in your pocket anymore. Most retailers now allow you to tap your phone to pay. Loyalty and discount cards can also be stored on your phone.

Along with moving my wallet to my front pocket when sitting for long periods of time, I've begun to downsize what's in there. Besides my license, credit cards and some emergency cash, there's really no need to be lugging around a ton of useless cards and papers.

By streamlining what I keep in my wallet I hope to avoid sciatica in the future. You may want to follow doctors' orders and give it a try yourself before you wind up with a literal pain in the butt like I did.