Sciatica & Back Pain Relief: 3 Tips For Travelers
June 6, 2008 · Print This Article
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"For the traveler, dealing with sciatica and back pain can be especially bothersome. Getting out of your sciatica and back pain exercise routine, added stress, and excessive demands on your back from sitting and maneuvering your luggage can play havoc on a healing back.
Here are 3 tips to keeping your sciatica and back pain in check while traveling:
- Posture: If you’re going to be sitting for a while, roll a towel up and place it in the small of your back. This will take stress off weakened spinal structures and will reduce the stiffness when changing positions.
- Sleeping: Sleep is very important when recovering from a back injury. But, sometimes, a strange bed is difficult to get comfortable in. Ask the front desk for more pillows to place under your legs if you sleep on your back. If you’re use to a body roll, several pillows can be used to position yourself in a comfortable position for you to rest.
- Stay Active: Nothing is worse for your back than inactivity. Yet, because of traveling, it’s easy to get off your healthy back exercise routine. Pick 3 or 4 of your basic stretching exercises that can be done anywhere and be sure to do them during the time you’re traveling – especially just after you’ve sat for a period of time.
Don’t let sciatica or back pain ruin your trip. A little planning and taking the time to continue to manage your condition with specific corrective exercises will keep your symptoms under control.
To learn more about a custom designed sciatica and back pain relief program for you, click here: End My Back Pain
I welcome your comments and questions. Just fill in the form below.
Dedicated to Erasing Your Back Pain,
Malton A. Schexneider, PT, MMSc
The Back Pain Expert
Good points http://www.ahealthportal.com
I have been suffering from Lower Back Ache for almost 2 years.Though being athletic & devoted to my daily exercise regime ,I am not able to cope up with my daily routine.I got an MRI done of spine which showed L-5 S-1 prolapsed disc.I got a microdissectomy done in April-08.Still after the surgery I have not been alleviated of pain.The pain exaggerates when I get up in the morning or when I am sitting or standing for long.My condition has jeopardised my work which involves travelling & touring.
Yogender Arya,
One of the problems with surgery is that many times surgery is performed prior to “optimizing” the patient for surgery. In other words, other considerations should have been addressed prior to surgical intervention.
This is not your fault by any means. In fact, it’s a problem I see all the time. When a person is experiencing back pain as you describe, the first thing that’s usually done is to medicate the patient and, if warranted, obtain diagnostic imaging. Although this is a reasonable course of action, it’s easy for the treating clinician to assign a cause and effect relationship between what is identified on the film and the patient’s symptoms.
The reality is that a vast majority (up to 85%) of people who are experiencing no back pain would have very similar findings as people suffering with chronic back pain. Put quite simply, to make a surgical decision based solely on diagnostic imaging is not the best course of action as there are many contributing factors that should be identified and addressed first.
That being said, I suspect that you have some of those contributing factors and may have had a better surgical outcome if those factors had been addressed prior to surgery. All is not lost, however, as there are certainly things that can be done to correct these factors.
One contributing factor that is oftentimes missed is a specific muscle imbalance involving a deep muscle referred to as the psoas. My Erase Your Back Pain program addresses these issues in a logical and systematic matter so you can improve function and decrease pain.
If you would care to speak with me personally, you can arrange a free consultation by going to: http://eraseyourbackpain.com/consult
I look forward to speaking with you soon.
what do you do for sciatic pain?
Doug,
Sorry for the delay in getting back with you.
What can i do for sciatica?
First determine where the sciatica was emanating from.
Second, treat the problem.
Sciatica should be gone in a just a few days, longer if VERY irritable.
Let me know if i can help.
i have a sciatica problem coming from my L4&L5 area i use a walker to get around i tried some of your exercises in lose the back pain but found them to painful have you got any thing else i hurt m y back on dec.24;2007
ron