Is Your Body Feeling the School Holidays?

The July school holidays may be over, but your body might still be feeling the effects.

Whether your holiday involved a long road trip, a flight, theme-park queues or simply sleeping in an unfamiliar bed, travelling can be surprisingly demanding on your body.

You may arrive home with wonderful memories—and a stiff neck, tight shoulders or an unhappy lower back!

Why can travelling leave you feeling stiff?

Travelling often involves much more sitting than our bodies are accustomed to. Long periods in the car or on a plane can leave joints and muscles feeling stiff, particularly through the neck, shoulders, hips and lower back.

Some common contributors include:

• Sitting in the same position for several hours

• Looking down at a phone or tablet during the journey

• Sleeping in a different bed or using an unfamiliar pillow

• Carrying or lifting luggage

• Walking and standing more than usual

• Spending long days at attractions or theme parks

• Falling out of your regular exercise and movement routine

The trip itself may be relaxing, but the travel surrounding it isn’t always quite so comfortable!

What can you do after returning home?

Gentle movement is often a good place to start. Try returning gradually to your usual routine rather than spending another full day sitting down.

You might find it helpful to:

• Take a gentle walk

• Change position regularly

• Perform comfortable neck, shoulder and hip movements

• Resume your usual exercise gradually

• Use warmth to relax tight muscles

• Prioritise sleep and hydration

Avoid forcing stretches or movements that increase your discomfort.

When might chiropractic care be helpful?

If your stiffness or discomfort isn’t settling—or it is making it difficult to return to your normal routine—a chiropractic assessment may be appropriate.

Your chiropractor can assess how you are moving, identify areas that may be contributing to your symptoms and discuss whether chiropractic care is suitable for you. Depending on your individual needs, care may include manual treatment, soft-tissue techniques and advice about movement or exercises.

Treatment recommendations should always be based on your symptoms, health history and clinical findings—not simply because you have returned from a holiday.

Still feeling the holiday?

If your neck, shoulders or back are complaining after the July break, you’re welcome to book an appointment.

Riverside Chiropractic: located within Every Body Chiropractic in Riverview, near Lane Cove.

Don't let back pain hijack your holiday

Every year I go away for a girls' weekend with my friends from high school. It is definitely a highlight on our calendars. We hire a pimping Airbnb so we can spend time catching up without being interrupted by our offspring, go for a nice bushwalk, eat out and lots of lazing around. This time one of my friends, had a sore neck and shoulder so, of course, I couldn't help myself but give her an adjustment. She felt much better after it. 

Now, not all of us go away with a chiropractor, so what can you do to help reduce the chance of back or neck pain making your holiday less enjoyable, cause let's face it, you've earnt your holiday.

• Regular breaks - "stop, revive & survive" actually move around, don't just get out of your car and sit somewhere else. If you are on a plane, walk around the cabin or the airport terminal.

• Stretching - I walk up to the back of the plane and spend time stretching there. I don't care what other people think, I want to feel good. My favourite stretches are chest, front of thigh, glutes and neck. If you would like a stretch handout, you can find it on my here, scroll down to find upper and lower body stretches.

• Use a small pillow or roll up your jumper and place it in the small of your back to support your posture.

• Take your pillow as hotel pillows are often the wrong size

• Use a U-shaped pillow on long trips to support your neck whilst sleeping

• Take a small massage ball away with you to work into those knots

• Come in and get adjusted before you leave, even if you are feeling fine as spinal problems can appear seemingly out of no where

If you would like a chiropractic session or massage before you leave for your holiday, please schedule an appointment. Have a fun and safe trip.