Traveling can be a pain in your back!

Traveling can be rough on the body. Whether you are traveling alone on business or on your way to a sunny resort with your family, long hours in a car or an airplane can leave you stressed, tired, stiff and sore.  “Prolonged sitting can wreak havoc on your body,” says Dr. Scott Bautch, past president of the American Chiropractic Association’s (ACA) Council on Occupational Health. “Even if you travel in the most comfortable car or opt to fly first class, certain pressures and forces from awkward positions can result in restricted blood flow.  One of the biggest insults to your system from prolonged sitting is the buildup of pressure in the blood vessels in your lower legs. Contracting and relaxing the muscles helps the blood flow properly.

We recommend the following tips to help prevent pain associated with traveling:

In The Car

1. Adjust the seat so you are as close to the steering wheel as comfortably possible. Your knees should be slightly higher than your hips. Place four fingers behind the back of your thigh closest to your knee. If you cannot easily slide your fingers in and out of that space, you need to re-adjust your seat.

2. Consider a back support. Using a support behind your back may reduce the risk of low-back strain, pain or injury. The widest part of the support should be between the bottom of your rib cage and your waistline.

3. Exercise your legs while driving to reduce the risk of any swelling, fatigue or discomfort. Open your toes as wide as you can, and count to 10. Count to five while you tighten your calf muscles, then your thigh muscles, then your gluteal muscles. Roll your shoulders forward and back, making sure to keep your hands on the steering wheel and your eyes on the road.

4. To minimize arm and hand tension while driving, hold the steering wheel at approximately 3 o’clock and 7 o’clock, periodically switching to 10 o’clock and 5 o’clock.

5. Do not grip the steering wheel. Instead, tighten and loosen your grip to improve hand circulation and decrease muscle fatigue in the arms, wrists and hands.

6. While always being careful to keep your eyes on the road, vary your focal point while driving to reduce the risk of eye fatigue and tension headaches.

7. Take rest breaks. Never underestimate the potential consequences of fatigue to yourself, your passengers and other drivers.

In an Airplane

1. Stand up straight and feel the normal “S” curve of your spine. Then use rolled-up pillows or blankets to maintain that curve when you sit in your seat. Tuck a pillow behind your back and just above the beltline and lay another pillow across the gap between your neck and the headrest. If the seat is hollowed from wear, use folded blankets to raise your buttocks a little.

2. Check all bags heavier than 5-10 percent of your body weight. Overhead lifting of any significant amount of weight should be avoided to reduce the risk of pain in the lower back or neck. While lifting your bags, stand right in front of the overhead compartment so the spine is not rotated. Do not lift your bags over your head, or turn or twist your head and neck in the process.

3. When stowing belongings under the seat, do not force the object with an awkward motion using your legs, feet or arms. This may cause muscle strain or spasms in the upper thighs and lower back muscles. Instead, sit in your seat first, and using your hands and feet, gently guide your bags under the seat directly in front of you.

4. While seated, vary your position occasionally to improve circulation and avoid leg cramps. Massage legs and calves. Bring your legs in, an move your knees up and down. Prop your legs up on a book or a bag under your seat

5. Do not sit directly under the air controls. The draft can increase tension in your neck and shoulder muscles.

Safe Travel For Children

1. Always use a car seat in a car when traveling with children below the age of 4 and weighing less than 40 pounds.

2. Ask the airline for their policy on child car seat safety. Car seats for infants and toddlers provide added resistance to turbulent skies, and are safer than the lap of a parent in the event of an unfortunate accident.

3. Make sure the car seat is appropriate for the age and size of the child. A newborn infant requires a different seat than a three year-old toddler.

4. Car seats for infants should always face the rear. In this position, the forces and impact of a crash will be spread more evenly along the back and shoulders, providing more protection for the neck.

5. Car seats should always be placed in the back seat of the car-ideally in the center. This is especially important in cars equipped with air bags. If an air bag becomes deployed, the force could seriously injure or kill a child or infant placed in the front seat.

6. Make sure the car seat is properly secured to the seat of the vehicle and is placed at a 45-degree angle to support the head of the infant or child.

 Headaches, Drugs, and Chiropractic

Headache sufferers have been reportedly helped by chiropractic adjustments since the profession’s early days. Misalignments or restrictions (subluxations) in the spine, particularly in the upper part of the neck, can irritate nerves that provide pain sensation to various parts of the head and face. A number of accounts of relief from both tension headaches and migraine have appeared in the chiropractic clinical journals in recent years.1A particularly interesting study compared six weeks of drug therapy using the antidepressant Amitriptyline with six weeks of chiropractic adjustments.2 The patients selected for this study had a history of at least one headache per week over a period of three months or more.

Although drug therapy was slightly more effective at reducing headache pain, this relief was accompanied by side-effects in more than 82 percent of the patients. These side-effects included dry mouth, drowsiness and weight gain. Previous studies indicated that glaucoma and cardiac problems could be further side-effects of this drug. By contrast, less than 5 percent of the patients receiving chiropractic adjustments reported the minor side-effect of slight neck stiffness.

A further chiropractic advantage became apparent during a follow-up period, four weeks after the interventions were stopped. Headache relief continued for the chiropractic group, while members of the drug therapy group returned to their previous levels of headache suffering. The chiropractic group also reported higher levels of energy and vitality than the drug therapy group during this follow-up period.

The advantage of the chiropractic approach over drug therapy has become even more apparent with the widespread recognition of “rebound headache,” sometimes called “medication headache” or “analgesic headache.”1 Apparently, long-term use of headache medicines more than twice per week can interfere with the body’s natural pain-control circuitry. After a while, the medication gives transient, partial relief, but the headache returns (rebounds) as the medication wears off. Sometimes, the rebound headache is more severe than the original symptoms, and the patient requires higher and higher dosages of medication. Even relatively innocuous over-the-counter headache remedies can have serious side-effects, especially when used for six months or more at dosages higher than recommended.

Does Running Cause Arthritis?

The answer:  Low and moderate volume running do not predispose to lower extremity osteoarthritis.Here are some recommendations:

1. Wear the correct running shoes. Everyone is different; depending on the shape of the foot, one running shoe may benefit a runner over another.

2. Get new running shoes about every 300 miles.  Knee and hip pain after running is a good sign that new shoes are needed.

3. Run on soft surfaces to help decrease the impact on joints.

4. Cross-train to promote a higher level of all-around conditioning and reduce exercise boredom.

5. Correct running gait abnormalities to prevent inefficient running and injuries.

6. Avoid overdoing it.  As a general rule you should not increase your distance more than 10% per week.

7. Avoid inadequate rest – not giving your body a chance to heal will lead to an overuse injury.

8. Treat injuries appropriately.  Ignoring injuries or sweeping them under the rug will increase the chances of an injury healing incorrectly or getting worse.

9. Maintain an appropriate weight.  Less weight means less stress on your joints.

10. Eat well.  Good nutrition gives your body the fuel it needs to perform and heal.

Running can be personally and socially rewarding.  It has shown to improve cardiovascular endurance and help control blood pressure, lipids, and cholesterol.  Running is a useful form of weight management and can improve strength, endurance, and mood.