Pain-Free Travel Tips

For many people with back pain or neck pain, the prospect of a long trip can be daunting.  The seat in cars, airplanes, buses, and trains aren’t always the most comfortable and sitting still for an extended time can in and of itself aggravate painful areas in the back and neck.  The following tips are offered to help reduce or avoid overall back pain and discomfort while traveling. Lift Luggage in Stages. Back strain often occurs near the end of one’s range of motion when lifting a heavy item.  For this reason, experts recommend moving slowly when lifting a heavy piece of luggage and breaking the action into smaller parts whenever possible.  For example, when lifting a bag into an overhead bin, it can first be lifted to the top of the seat, then into the bin in a separate motion.  Similarly, loading a suitcase in the trunk of a car can be broken into steps, such as lifting it first to a chair or stepstool, then lifting it into the trunk.  Other important lifting tips include:

Bend at the knees and use leg muscles rather than back muscles to lift

Avoid twisting the low back while lifting; instead, pivot with the feet;

Carry heavy items as close to the body as possible;

Distribute weigh evenly on each side of the body;

If carrying one shoulder bag, switch sides often to avoid stressing one side of the back.

Bring Your Own Back Support

Seats in cars, trains, planes etc. often don’t provide the right type of support for the lower back and/or neck. A lumbar support pillow can be used to make your seat more comfortable and support your lower back.  If you don’t have one or forget to bring it, a jacket, sweater or blanket rolled up can also provide support for the inward curve of the low back.  This is often particularly important if traveling coach class on a long flight, as many airplane eats lack low back support.  In this case, an airplane pillow or blanket placed between the seat and low back can work well.  An inflatable travel pillow that fits around the neck can help avoid neck strain by providing head support while resting or sleeping in a sitting position during travel.

Support Your Feet

Proper support for the low back also requires bottom-up leverage from your feet.  If your feet are not placed on a firm surface while sitting, additional stress is transferred to your low back.  Therefore, if your seat is too high, try to rest your feet on a footrest (or something that can act as a footrest) to keep your knees at a right angle and avoid stressing the low back.  While driving, resting both feet on the floor provides more support for your lower back than if one foots is on the gas, so you may consider using cruise control for longer drives.

Move as Much as Possible

The spine is designed to move. Sitting in one position for extended periods of time stiffens the back muscles, which can put stress on the spine.  Get up and stretch and move around frequently – every 20 to 30 minutes if possible – to move your core body muscles.  Importantly, movement stimulates blood flow and blood brings important nutrients and oxygen to th4e structures of the back which helps prevent soft tissues in the low back from stiffening and aching after sitting for a long time.  Even 10 seconds of movement and stretching is better than sitting still.  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 sill for long periods.

Quick and Easy Pain Relief

If back pain does flare up while you’re traveling, one of the fastest ways to get relief is applying a cold pack or alternating ice and heat.  When traveling, materials such as ice and hot packs are usually easily accessible and affordable.  For example, you can fill any type of plastic bag with ice and apply to the painful area such as placing a small bag of ice between your low back and he seatback while you’re driving or sitting in a plane or train.  There are also disposable, portable hot packs that heat up after you open them, so you can bring them on your travels and open and apply them as needed.  Commercial heat wraps are available that wrap around the middle of the body and incorporate heating units in the low back area of the band.  Such types of heat wraps last for several hours, making them ideal to provide back comfort during lengthy travel.  However, too much heat can add to selling and therefore, alternating ice and heat for 10-15 minutes each, and avoiding prolonged heat is best. 

Article written by: Ron S. Miller, PT