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Home » Exercise Programs » Preventing back pain on long-haul flights and car trips – ABC News

The holiday season often means long periods of sitting in cars and planes, not to mention at dinner tables you can't escape from.

While some of us look forward to the travel, others worry that being trapped in a seat for hours will leave their back in agony.

So what can you do to avoid a back ache on that next long-haul flight or interstate road trip?

As they say: It's the journey, not the destination, that counts. So, make your journey as comfortable as possible, says physiotherapist Adrian Traeger.

"There are different pillows and even rolled up towels that people can move into different positions ... that can help to reduce pain," says Dr Traeger, a research fellow at the University of Sydney.

Placing a pillow under your buttocks or a lumbar roll behind your lower back can help, he says.

But be warned, changing posture won't work for everyone.

"When we look at the research, [pillows] don't have consistent benefits for people with back pain," Dr Traeger says.

It's a good idea to move your legs and feet for a few minutes every hour or so.

This means getting up and moving about occasionally during a long plane or train trip, or taking breaks to stretch your legs and move your body when you're on the road.

"In terms of specific stretches, there's not one golden stretch."

"But getting up and walking around doing some bending backward, bending forward, those kind of general movements can certainly help," Dr Traeger says.

For a long time, GPs were advised to tell patients to take simple paracetamol for relief from back pain.

But when this idea was put to the test in a large study, the results showed paracetamol actually didn't seem to help. It didn't speed time to recovery; it didn't improve pain; and it didn't improve the range of activities people could do.

There's also little evidence other popular over-the-counter painkillers known as anti-inflammatories (e.g. ibuprofen) help back pain much either.

"The recommendation at the moment is really to avoid medicines if you can, and try and use things like a hot water bottle, heat bag or hot shower," Dr Traeger says.

While heat therapy won't work for everyone, he says it's a good option for those feeling a little stiff or sore after a long flight or road trip.

"What we think might happen with heat is that it can relax the spasming muscles," he says.

"It's a good way to go in those early couple of days, to see if you can get in control of the pain and then see how things go after that."

The good news is that almost all cases of acute back pain will recover fully in their own time.

"There's no need to rush to the doctor or even the physio straight away. You can sort of see how it goes over a couple of days," Dr Traeger says.

Instead of resting in bed or remaining stationary, Dr Traeger says some gentle movement even if you're feeling sore is often the best thing you can do.

"Try and keep your back moving."

"We know that backs don't like prolonged periods of rest," he says.

If the pain doesn't appear to improve within a week, it's a good idea to see a doctor or physio.

Dr Traeger says when it comes to preventing back pain from sitting, there is no silver bullet, and different things will work for different people.

There is, however, good evidence for the use of exercise programs, whether organised by yourself or supervised by a physio or exercise professional.

While regular exercise before a long flight or car trip can help prevent back pain, exercise can also help you prepare for an extra active holiday, says Dr Traeger.

And reducing stress is also an important way to manage back pain, he adds.

"[Stress] can sort of interact with these other physical risk factors ... so taking steps to take control of that aspect of your life can actually be a really good way to prevent back pain as well."

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Preventing back pain on long-haul flights and car trips - ABC News

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Home » Exercise Programs » Preventing back pain on long-haul flights and car trips – ABC News