It is that time of year again, holiday time. Many of you will be off abroad, some of you will just be taking time off work and a lot of you will be off on a “staycation”. As a leading Chelmsford Chiropractor I come across a lot of patients who experience back issues after time off work and I feel it is my duty to offer advice to you.
For various reasons you might find yourself with a few body aches; perhaps you took an active holiday and forgot to stretch, maybe you took time off work and painted your house or sat on the couch for prolonged periods of time. Perhaps you were driving for 10 hours to get to Scotland or sat on a plane for 5 hours to get to Turkey.
Whatever the type of holiday I as a busy Chelmsford Chiropractor have seen it all and I often advise my patients to keep their back and body safe by:
- Avoiding stiffness
You should aim to keep your body moving even if you are confined to a plane, bus or car. Do a series of shoulder shrugs, buttock clenches, and foot circles at regular intervals to keep your body a bit loose.
- Keeping hydrated
Dehydration won’t necessarily lead to back pain and bodily injuries but the effects of dehydration might. Avoid lethargic feelings and headaches by drinking plenty of water and juice. It really does make a significant difference.
- Get moving as soon as you’ve finished travelling (by car, bus, train, or plane)
This is a simple piece of advice. As soon as you have finished travelling or even painting, get moving. Just move around and limber up, it will help.
- Take regular breaks (if you’re driving or sat on the couch)
Sometimes you can control your scenario on your holiday. If for example you are driving or just sat at home or on the beach relaxing you have all the control. Make sure you use this wisely and get moving around every now and then. Try and avoid being sat in the same position for longer than 40 minutes.
- Avoid putting your body into awkward positions
Another simple piece of advice I give as a busy Chelmsford Chiropractor is to avoid putting your body into awkward positions. It may sound obvious but you would be surprised how many people do it. Just keep an eye on how you are sat down or lying down.
- Make your luggage easy to find
Don’t mess around with lifting other people’s luggage out the way to find yours at the airport, bus station or on the train. Make sure you know where your luggage is and don’t hurt yourself moving other people’s heavy bags out of the way.
If you have any concerns with back injuries please get in touch with us as we offer a lot of help and advice to get you back up and running as soon as possible.
You can find us at www.chelmsfordchiropractor.co.uk.