Travel Tips

I’m sure many of you have taken some trips this summer. Although it is always a pleasure to finally reach our final destination, getting there can be really difficult on our joints, muscles and nerves. Travel can cause irritation to our bodies as we have to use our bodies in ways that we aren’t necessarily used to doing, such as sitting still for long periods of time in cramped spaces, putting luggage in overhead bins or packing a car for a long road trip. It’s no wonder that many people with different types of pain try to avoid travel.

Whether you are on a plane or riding in a car, making your trip as easy as possible is my first priority. Here are some ways to help you have as pleasant of a trip as you possibly can.

1. Stretch and walk around. Sitting for long periods of time can cause stiffness and tension. Get up to stretch and move around every 20 to 30 minutes if possible. Movement stimulates blood flow, and blood brings important nutrients and oxygen to your back, which reduces stiff muscles and helps curb inflammation. Movement also helps prevent blood clots from forming in the leg (called deep vein thrombosis), which is one of the most dangerous risks of sitting still for long periods.
2. Wear compression socks. These socks help with blood flow and can relieve some of the stress and tension from traveling.
3. Take a tennis ball with you. Tennis balls help relieve sore areas. Where ever you are experiencing pain, place the tennis ball in that area and push against it—this should help relieve the pressure points.
4. Lift luggage in stages. When lifting luggage, move slowly and try breaking the action down into smaller stages.
5. Never twist while lifting. This is a common cause of injury to the lower back. Make sure that you pivot your feet so that your whole body moves instead of just twisting your back.
6. Pack light. Try and use 2-3 small bags instead of one large one. This will make it much easier to lift bags in and out of car trunks and overhead bins.
7. Keep your medication with you at all times. This may seem pretty obvious, however it’s worth the extra typing. Make sure that you keep all of your medication with you either on the flight or the car ride instead of packing it in your luggage. You never know what medication you might need during your travels. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
8. Bring some over the counter medication with you. As a backup, make sure to bring acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin or Nuprin).
9. Use easy pain relief tactics. Ice and heat are very important while traveling. There are many different ways to bring ice/cold items to help with pain while traveling. The easiest way is to bring extra Ziploc bags with you and whenever you need to, ask a flight attendant to fill it with ice for you or stop at a gas station and fill it with ice. Make sure you leave it on for about 20 minutes and repeat as needed. You can also bring cold packs which are manually activated. As for heat, there are disposable, portable hot packs that heat up after opening them. You can bring them with when you travel and apply when needed.
10. Pain Patches. There are many different pain patches available for use. You can get a prescription one, such as a lidocaine patch, or a non-prescription one, like Bengay Pain Patch). It can help reduce the amount of pain medications that you might need to take.
11. Drink water. Water circulates healing nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. Drink water frequently to help keep your pain at bay and to keep your body hydrated.

I hope that these travel tips help you the next time you find yourself on a plane or a road trip!