Hey Revivers!
We have noticed the havoc a bad car/plane ride or hotel mattress can cause. It’s understandable to think about the excursions you will be on and the food you will try but what about the body that takes you on those excursions? I always believed that our bodies are our vehicles to help enjoy life’s greatest moments! So we should cherish it.
Our gift to you the Rehab and Revive community is the gift of health and knowledge in this last piece of 2019. So, what should we all be doing to protect our bodies while traveling?
In Preparation:
Pack the following things to help manage pain or prevent getting into a hot mess while you first arrive so that you can enjoy the FULL length of your stay
1. Regarding ALL travel, bring your 100% goose down feather pillow. It’s light and compresses easily into your carry-on. Note: You might be leaving one set of clothing behind in order to do this. If you can handle wearing the same pair of jeans a couple of times on your trip and only having one jacket, you are all set.
2. When boarding a plane or car/bus, bring a light sweater or thin jacket if you tend to get chilly wear a long sleeve underneath instead of a short sleeve. (I’ve got the same jacket I ALWAYS bring on a trip) You may have to try a few different ones to find the sweet spot.
Plan of Action on Airplane/Car/Bus:
1. Take your down feather pillow out and rest it on your lap and hug it to rest your elbows and shoulders. This is great for people with neck pain and helps support your upper body.
2. Bust out your nifty sweater out and wedge it behind your lower back/hip/pelvis to conform to the seat. Remember that you want to fill in any gaps.
3. I’ve been loving this TRTL neck pillow for travel! You can find it on Amazon here. Upon take-off (where I tend to knock out because of the white noise) I stick it under my chin. On flights when I can recline, I stick more towards the side of my chin.
4. The main difference between a car and a plane seat is the seat pan (aka what your butt sits on). If you happen to get one of those complimentary sham blankets while on the plane, throw that under your knees when you recline!
5. If your ears get blocked from the pressure change, a good old yawn works to "pop" your ears. There is a population that gets headaches due to the sensitivity of the inner ear to altitude pressure. If you are one of these people, we recommend the tentorium membrane stretch.
At the Hotel:
1. While you are on the road traveling and eating fast food you might feel “backed up”. Valves get shut with long term sitting and vibration from all of that travel. I have often been told by patients that during travel they don’t have bowel movements. There is a physical reason why. So bust out your handy therapy plunger (we sell those at R+), And open up those valves. Below is a video to demonstrate how to use it. Spend about 2 minutes on it and Viola! open up your plumbing.
2. Most of the time we are on our laptop or watching TV in the hotel room bed and rarely use the chair (if there is even one in the room). Stack and compress those pillows under your back between your knees and underneath your shoulders to keep you in a good posture while relaxing. Check out our video walking you through how to do it here!
Safe and Healthy Travels Everyone,
Dr. Lin and Everyone at Rehab and Revive