Card-carrying culture strains wallets

An aggravated sciatic nerve sent Alex Matthews to his doctor more than a decade ago.

Turned out his back pain was caused by prolonged periods of sitting off-balance on a stuffed wallet.

He downsized his wallet’s contents, and the pain disappeared. Then about two years ago he stopped carrying wallets altogether because they kept tearing from strain. Now he keeps some cards at home, others in his car and the most essential few in his pockets.

“When I take out all these cards and people ask me why don’t I get a wallet, I just laugh,” said Matthews, 47, of Homewood, Pa.

Other men have similar stories — the American Chiropractic Association reports increasing complaints — and many women have their own tales of wallet woe.

There’s no article of clothing or fashion accessory as stressed as the wallet. Shoes take a beating and hosiery wears out quickly, but the day-in-day-out testing of the wallet puts it in a class by itself.

Most people own only one wallet, and it usually strains at the seams.

Blame it on cardmania. A generation ago, folks carried around little more than a driver’s license, a medical card and one or two credit cards. We’ve become a card-carrying society, and we’re running out of places to put them all.

Wallets are crammed with driver’s licenses and employee identifications, insurance and club-membership cards, frequent-shopping cards, video-rental, voter’s-ID and gift cards — in addition to the normal array of debit and credit cards. All that plastic is forcing owners to find other places to stow stuff like family photos, coupons and business cards.

Many women carry wallets as large as a small clutch purse, often overfilling the many slots, compartments and photo sleeves. Some use two wallets; others rely on the wristlets that have become popular recently to hold only the cards they may need for a given outing.

The situation is different for men, who carry fewer cards. Men’s wallets have shown no significant increase in their modest sizes over the years, so inadequate space is an issue.

The back-pocket bulge isn’t merely unsightly and uncomfortable. Sitting on it can cause pain in the butt, back, neck and leg, as well as problems for the entire musculoskeletal system.

Several companies make roomy but ultra-thin wallets, or a sleek rectangular breast-pocket alternatives.

While cardmania seems to grow as people age, it’s an issue for young adults, too.

Cara Repasky, 19, has amassed 22 cards within the past five years and bought a new wallet a few months ago to hold them all.

“It’s pink and yellow and very big, very long,” said the University of Pittsburgh sophomore. “I think there’s more variety for women than for men, especially big-size wallets.”