Wednesday 4 April 2007

Travel tips for back pain

HI ,

I'm just back from a trip away and it was lovely to have a nice break. I really appreciate my travels now as i could not travel at all for about a year when i had severe back pain and sciatica symptoms. Well that is a bit of an understatement...for me travelling or going on holiday was a very distant dream ,for a long time i couldn't cope with more than a 30 minute car journey from my home!


More on back pain ,sciatica and travelling on my website www.mypetback.com but a few tips to share with you now i hope you find useful.



We all need a break, and if you have back pain, pinched sciatic nerve symptoms, backache and stress you probably need one more than most. Holidays are great, a time to relax, be with the family, play with the kids, explore, romance your loved one…or are they?

If you have back problems you may be thinking it is easier to stay at home. For many of us with back pain and sciatica symptoms just the very thought of a long journey, a strange bed, a lot of sitting, standing and travelling just doesn’t seem worth it.

Part of my back pain story is that with the onset of a ruptured disc and back pain I gave up holidays, and so did my family. That was just a miserable time for us all. Then I thought there must be a way. Whether it is a short trip or a long haul flight here are some tried and tested travel tips.


Before you travel with your bad back.

  • First it is important you contact your doctor to see if you are safe to travel with your back condition.


  • Check you can get proper travel insurance and do shop around and make sure you are well covered.


  • If you require medication for back pain make sure you carry enough for the duration of your travels and take some extra in case of delays. Ensure you carry your medications in your hand luggage and in their original labelled containers. Check with airline before booking your flights for the latest regulations on this. Do take all your back care medications and anything else that helps your back pain and sciatic nerve symptoms, like heat pads, with you in had luggage.


  • If you are flying try to book an aisle seat. This makes it so much easier for when you need to get in and out, gives you slightly more room if you need to stretch out a bit and means you won’t have to bother other people so much.


  • Pack as lightly as possible, especially if you are carrying your luggage. If possible use suitcases with wheels; they are great if you have a bad back. You may be able to buy some things you need when you get there. Check out the clothes washing facilities and then pack accordingly.


  • Pack some relaxation music or stress reduction CD's to use on the plane. They will help you relax more and ease tension. Visit my website www.mypetback.com on the "Inspiration " page for a great stress reduction program by Dick Supthen.




  • Check your destination. Is it easy for you to get around? If you find steps difficult are there any you will have to negotiate? What are the medical facilities? How much walking will you need to do to get around? How far is your destination from the airport? Will there be a long car or coach journey? You need to know what you can handle comfortably with your back problems and book accordingly.


While waiting for your transport.

  • If you find sitting aggravates your pinched sciatic nerve symptoms and back ache, keep moving about before your journey. You will have a lot of sitting to do so take the opportunity to walk about, stand up and stretch. Do not sit down unless necessary.


  • Give yourself plenty of time to get to your airport or port. You do not want to be getting stressed and rushing. Get there a little earlier than you need to then you will remain relaxed.


More on travelling ....by planes ,trains and automobiles(!) next time...




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Lose The Back Pain System
Lose the Back Pain, is a system of self assessments to determine what physical imbalances you may have that may be causing your pain, then specific and targeted exercises to follow to address the imbalances, along with pain reduction strategies. 

For useful information and suggestions there is a Free Back Pain Book Written by the Healthy back Institute-


7 Day Back Pain Cure
This free book (there is a small shipping/handling fee for physical book) will give you a good starting point for taking back control of your back pain covering reasons for pain, pain relief, possible treatments, action plans and many other things you will find useful.
Follow Jasmine Ann Raintree's board Back And Sciatic Pain Strategies. on Pinterest.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a very good /informative blog i have tried some of the travel tips and it worked on me especially the stretching. Keep up the good work- i will return often.

Anonymous said...

i agree with anonymous, this is excellent blog but can we have some illustrations of some of the exercises ? - that would be helpful.

jasmine ann said...

Thank you so much :)
It means a lot to me that the info helped you.

jasmine ann said...

Hi Cyndi,
The exercises i do come from The Healthy Back Institutes product; "lose the back pain system". You can click on the link LoseTheBackPain.com in the article to find out more on the website of the co founders and producers of this system.
To look at all the resources and more information on their website follow this link www.losethebackpain.com/free_resources.html

I will be posting a personal review of the "lose the back pain system" here in the next few days which i hope will be helpful to you.
Thank you