Your Shopping Sprees Are Endangering Your Health: An Important Report

We know you feel us on this, guys. You head to Barneys, or click over to Net-A-Porter, only planning on buying or one Valextra bag or Gucci travel trolley, and before you know it, your Centurion Card's worn out from its many shopping battles, and your buys barely fit in the trunk of your S-Class. Amirite? Well, here's even more bad news for those of you who treat shopping like an Olympic sport: Turns out, your armfuls of purchases may literally be imperiling your health.

Vogue UK reports that Harvey Nichols, the London-based luxury department store chain, has teamed with Dr. Rosemary Leonard to warn customers of so-called "shopping stress injuries," apparently caused by toting multiple purchases around.

"Carrying numerous bags can put untold physical pressure on a shopper's body," Dr. Leonard stated. She warns that multiple bags can cause restricted blood flow, "tingling of the fingers, and in more extreme cases numbness, and even fainting." Dr. Leonard also sees shoppers exhibiting pulled muscles, neck, and wrist strain. That's to say nothing of the agita you experience when you get waitlisted for a Trapeze tote yet again.

So, how to stanch the tide of tragically injured shoppers? First, Dr. Leonard recommends spreading your bags out along your arm, rather than holding them all in one hand. Harvey Nichols has even produced a rubber wristband that reads "stop shop zone" to remind shoppers not to carry any bags on their wrists or in their hands (who knew?). The store also recommends using its website "and letting our delivery drivers take the strain." Well sure, them or your personal manservants.

Now, before you file this under fancy-folk problems, keep this grave warning from Dr. Leonard in mind: "As a practicing GP, I see more cases of shopping-related stress injuries at times when the economy is experiencing a boom." Not totally sure we're feeling the boom ourselves, but still, something to think about before you go HAM at that Zara sale. (Vogue)