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Influence of the traditional use of Chumbi in lumbar weakness in women of ecuadorian highlands

Abstract:

Most the indigenous women who work in agriculture in the Ecuadorian highlands used girdles called chumbi. These woven belts are worn tightly wrapped around the waist and are used since childhood. A study of 14 elderlies was performed using several known methods to evaluate their functional condition. All the evaluated women have used the chumbi since childhood, meaning that they had been wearing it for at least 50 years. In all these women, the results show the presence of pronounced musculoskeletal disorders, such as scoliosis and pelvic retroversion which hinder their proper gait and balance when they are not wearing the chumbi. The apparent cause of these affections is the prolonged use of the tight belt and the excessive weight they carry tied on their backs. An expansion of the study is proposed in order to determine the age in which deformations begin and whether this pattern is repeated in other chumbi-wearing communities.