Travel and your back

If you are fun of traveling either by plane or bus, then these tips might just help prevent back aches. Sitting on a plane from Tokyo to Honolulu, Honolulu to Sydney translate to aching backs so don’t let this painful lower back stop you from doing something in other places.

Don’t sit for prolonged periods

Good advice huh, but what can you realistically do on a 10 hour flight or even a five hour car ride? On a long flight, you can get out of your seat every one to two hours to stretch your muscles and get your circulation flowing properly again. Your lower back will thank you for these stretch intervals so will your legs and feet.

If you really can’t get out of your seat, protect yourself by doing these.

• Flex and point your feet 20 times.
• Make clockwise and counterclockwise circles with you feet. Do 10 circles in each direction.
• Alternately lift your right and left foot off the floor, as if marching. Do 20 repetitions.

Stretch your back

Do the following stretches once every one to two hours to keep your lower back from stiffening up.

• Clasp your hands and stretch your arms in front of you at shoulder level with your palms facing away from you. Keep your back straight then pull your belly button to your spine and round you back.
• Keep your hands clasped and take your arms overhead.
• Put one arm down and leave the other arm overhead. Bend sideways to stretch your sides of your body. Do the other side.

Don’t cross your legs

Whenever you cross your legs, whether placing an ankle over the opposite knee or fully crossing one leg over the other, you are shortening your leg muscles, causing an uneven curvature in your spine and placing an uneven weight on your hips and pelvis. This can actually irritate your sciatic nerve, causing pain that runs down leg. As much as possible, sit with both feet flat on the ground or with your legs crossed at the ankles.