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Travel Tips
The holiday travel season is upon us and the CreakyJoints team has compiled a list of our favorite suggestions for staying comfortable while travelling. We all know that travelling with arthritis can be uncomfortable and often painful, but that's never stopped us!
These tips are what we've found to be useful when traveling. We want your feedback and suggestions!
- Use an airline pillow as a body brace either for your lower or middle back or neck.
- Sit in a bulkhead or aisle seat for additional leg room.
- Take flights which have larger coach seats.
- Check all bags except for a very light carry-on which is easy to stow.
- Refuse all airline food, and being very particular about rest stop food. Bring fresh vegetables, energy bars (without corn syrup), and water. (Pig out when you reach your destination. Heavy food slows you down.)
- If you're under 30, stretch some part of your body every time you think about sex. If you're over 30, stretch two parts of your body everytime you think about sex.
- Bring a heating pad.
- Take advantage of the hotel gym, or if you belong to a health club at home, see if a club at your destination has a reciprocal agreement.
- Use a travel cart for the airport or train stations.
- Use luggage with wheels.
- When the next gate seems like its ten miles away, don't be afraid to ask for the electric cart.
- Wear comfortable shoes and clothes.
F. Thomas, a flight attendant with mild to moderate RA writes:
It is likely that I will soon have to give up work. However I have read your list of tips for travellers and wanted to add some comments!
- Tell the flight attendants if you need to get up and stretch that you have a condition - they are likely to be more sympathetic and may even find you a better seat (If you ask for an upgrade you are very unlikely to get one as 99.9% of passengers do and it gets annoying!)
- Ask the flight attendant for an extra pillow as soon as you board (there are not always many spares) and explain why you need it.
- You can order a buggy or wheelchair for when you arrive, this can mean you avoid waiting in long immigration queues and walking long distances in foreign terminals (Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur you have to walk about 1 km!)
- You get very dehydrated on flights so take a large bottle of mineral water with you so you don't dry out (this can affect the way your drugs affect your body so can be really important!)
Hope this helps...
We don't know about y'all, but just reading those tips made us feel much better! Additionally, we received some of the following suggestions:
- Inform Stewardess of condition and have her escort you to the restroom to help clear the aisle. -Brianna Reyes
- Always sit up straight because if you bend too much, your hips will start to ache. -Ashley Stokes
And, Lois Seely asks if anyone knows how to find "a list of accomodations that have roll-in-showers." Anyone have any ideas?
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