What kind of backpack do I need?

[doctorboo]

Any ideas which type of backpack would be best for someone with painful hands/arms/neck/upper back? It would pretty much only needs to hold a 400ml water bottle, a small purse, phone, wet wipes and a couple of packs of mini cheddars.

I’m waiting on test results to find out what’s going on 35 and struggling but have had to stop using my trusty body cross bags and am also finding that my (large) cath kidston rucksack and my husbands unbranded padded one irritate too.

Sorry, your having such a rough time atm. I have a few of the longcham pillage backpacks, they are so lightweight and if needed hold loads but are not too big.

The Kipling Firefly is a good small backpack: www.kipling.com/uk-en/backpacks-c10565/firefly-up-essential-k12887j9900-999.html I have the same type of pain issues as you (although according to all the tests there is nothing wrong with me) and changing to a backpack has helped a lot.

I also have a slightly larger Kipling City: www.kipling.com/uk-en/backpacks/shop-by/small-c10574/city-pack-s-essential-b6fbed-k15641g3300-999.html . I do find, though, that the larger the bag the more stuff finds its way into it.

Both are very light when they're empty, so you're only carrying what you put in, rather than a lot of weight from the bag itself.

(And I am not affiliated with Kipling in any way )

I don't have a specific recommendation, but it occurs to me that maybe you'd be better off carrying weight on your hips rather than back/shoulders? 'Bumbags' are apparently 'in' at the moment, maybe worth trying?

I like the mia tui maya mini rucksack

Otherwise there's the healthy back bag - I've used this for a few month now (since I had a back injury) and it works for me

Ooh, I’ll check them all out, even bum bags @ErrolTheDragon

@Suzyloo Sorry you’re suffering too. I saw the gp this morning, she’s referring me to the arthritis clinic but if they doesn’t think I tick the boxes (apparently X-ray and bloods don’t show anything) I’ve no idea what I’ll do next.

@doctorboo It's very frustrating, so I hope you can get an answer. I've been for every test going, and ended up on amitriptyline, which is an old anti-depressant used for nerve pain. It worked wonders at first but the wonderment doesn't last. It's better than nothing though. I know it's great to have negative test results, but I've always thought that if there's nothing wrong with me then I can't recover from it. In a way I wanted someone to say "yes, it's x and here's something that will fix you".