Sun, Sand, and Your Spine — How to Travel Without the Aches
Holiday travel is one of life’s great pleasures — but for many people it comes with an unwelcome travelling companion. Stiffness, aching backs, tight necks, and swollen legs have become so associated with long journeys that we’ve almost accepted them as part of the experience. But they don’t have to be.
Whether you’re enduring a long haul flight, a packed car journey, or a coach transfer to your resort, extended periods of sitting place significant strain on your spine. Your body isn’t designed to be still for hours at a time — and when it is, the compensatory patterns that ABC™ care works so hard to correct can be reinforced, sometimes quite quickly.
The position most seats put you in doesn’t help. Reclined, compressed, and often twisted slightly to one side, your spine is far from neutral. Add a heavy carry-on bag hauled through airports, sleeping at an awkward angle on the plane, and then collapsing onto a sun lounger for a week, and you have a recipe for structural stress that can leave you spending the first few days of your holiday recovering rather than enjoying.
Vic’s Favourite Travel Tip
Here’s something I always tell our clients before they travel — and it costs absolutely nothing. Make sure your hips are higher than your knees when you’re sitting. Most plane and car seats actively work against this, tipping your pelvis backwards and loading your lower spine. The fix? Roll up a jumper or a travel throw and pop it under your bum at the back of the seat. It’s a small adjustment that makes a remarkable difference to how your spine sits throughout a long journey. Try it once and you’ll never travel without doing it again!
Beyond that — move regularly, even short walks up and down the aisle make a difference. Be mindful of how you’re sitting, avoid crossing your legs for extended periods, and take care when lifting luggage overhead.
Leave the Crocs and Birkenstocks at Home!
We know, we know — they’re comfortable. But if there’s one thing we feel strongly about at Spirohealth (almost as strongly as we feel about ABC™!), it’s holiday footwear. This summer, do your spine a favour and ditch the dreaded Crocs and Birkenstocks. Our tried, trusted, and unanimously approved holiday shoe of choice? Havaianas. Your feet — and your structure — will thank you.
Put the Phone Down… But Not Like That!
Just because you’re on holiday doesn’t mean the rules go out of the window! We bang on about this in the clinic and we’re going to bang on about it here too — please, please avoid the text neck. We’ve all seen it — and done it — that chin-to-chest scroll while lying on a sun lounger. Your neck is not designed to hold that position for the length of a Netflix episode, let alone an entire afternoon by the pool. Raise your phone or iPad to eye level, pop it on a cushion if you need to, and give your spine the holiday it deserves too! 
At Spirohealth we’d also recommend coming in for an ABC™ session before you travel and booking in when you return. Think of it as preparing your body for the journey — and restoring it afterwards.
Travel should be the adventure, not the recovery. Let us help you arrive and return feeling your best.
