Relieve Back Pain After Long Travel

Long flights can be such a bother especially because you are then stuck feeling exactly that, stuck! Your back hurts, maybe your neck, and your hips probably feel like the tin man. Am  I right? Airplanes aren’t the most comfortable modes of transportation and if you travel a lot it can accumulate in the body. Which is why it’s good to release that tension and do what you need to in order to stop feeling squished and tight all over. I’ll give you some of the best methods for releasing your back pain after long travel and easy to do anywhere while your are traveling or at home.

Stretch That Pain Away

Stretch out the muscles can help to open everything up. When you sit for long periods of time the muscles can shorten which will cause some tension and possibly pain when in those stagnant positions. So get up and stretch even on the plane. You can go back towards the bathroom where there is more space or wait until you get off if that’s a better option for you! For a hip stretch check out my IGTV on one way you can help release the back. 

 

Traction To Release

The airline seats are designed to slump your back which puts pressure in your lower spine and neck. Getting some traction by pulling away from a stable surface will help to open everything back up. By pulling away from the wall, a bar, anything that is structurally sound will work. You can do this with the legs together or separated wide apart and just hinge at the hips. Let the ribcage open towards the floor a little and you should feel a stretch both down your back and hamstrings (back of the legs).

What can you do to try and avoid the pain from seats? Place a rolled up shirt, towel, blanket, jacket, behind the base of your ribcage(lowest part of your ribs). This will let the back sit more comfortably and in alignment plus help with breath flow and not to squish the diaphragm and adrenals.

 

 

Tight Hips And Back Pain

Tight rotators, Glutes, hip flexors, and Quads are all causes of low back pain when you travel. When you have a cause of pain but it’s felt in another area of the body it’s called referred pain. The best example of it is when someone is having a heart attack but they feel the pain in their arm. That’s just like when those muscles are tight which pull and strain on each other the low back feels that pain.

The body is all connected and there are certain reasons why you feel it in the back because some of those deep muscles attach there. Releasing the hips is going to actually help you to decompress and get some relief in your back. How do I do that?

Use the stretches above to get out the tension in the legs and hip flexors. To continue to stretch the hips you can sit in a chair (even do this one the plane) with your legs bent, feet on the floor. Take your right ankle and cross it on top of your left knee. Let your right knee stay out to the side like a half figure four stretch. Just lean forward and you should feel the right hip stretching. You can do this for both sides periodically to release the tension.

Flying doesn’t have to be uncomfortable all the time with back pain when you travel, but there are tricks like these to help. If you’re interested in more on staying healthy and not getting sick on airplanes check out that article here. 

 

I love to travel and fly but sometimes the body gets wrecked in the process. So take care of it and you can have a great adventure pain free!

 

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