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Air Travel - How Do You Manage?
Last evening I returned from an educational trip. It started like most of my trips. Even though I am a careful packer, it is hard to travel with a light suitcase when you are going to be gone close to a week. I managed to fit everything into one big case and I put the rest of my items with my laptop in my backpack and took off.
When I arrived and finally made it to my hotel room, I noticed severe aching and tenderness in my shoulders and arms - mainly my right arm. It ached like a tooth ache and intensified around my elbow and down into my hand. There was tenderness but no signs of redness or bruising. I did feel like there was some swelling however. The interesting thing I noticed was that it intensified when I wore my backpack at the airport.
I talked to my husband the night before flying home and shared my concerns because I had a lot of paperwork I gathered at the seminars that I needed to bring home. The weight felt extremely heavy. He had a great idea. He suggested I ship some things home so I wouldn't need such a heavy suitcase. I could then transfer some items I didn't need to carry in my backpack to the suitcase and check it. There happened to be a business center/Kinko's located at the hotel where I was staying so I went down and purchased a box. I filled it with items that I didn't want to carry and I shipped it home. This enabled me to use my suitcase and lighten my backpack a little bit.
I cannot say that I had dramatic relief. However, my right arm is feeling less tender today. It is important for people like myself with chronic pain to be creative sometimes and do things like this to help ourselves when we need to. I may have to give up my backpack completely. I notice there are backpacks with wheels built right into them. I plan to invest in one of those in the near future.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to be a creative traveler? How about sharing some of your ideas on either my Pain Management or Migraine message boards here on WebMD.
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Related Topics: Technorati Tags: pain management, chronic pain, travel
When I arrived and finally made it to my hotel room, I noticed severe aching and tenderness in my shoulders and arms - mainly my right arm. It ached like a tooth ache and intensified around my elbow and down into my hand. There was tenderness but no signs of redness or bruising. I did feel like there was some swelling however. The interesting thing I noticed was that it intensified when I wore my backpack at the airport.
I talked to my husband the night before flying home and shared my concerns because I had a lot of paperwork I gathered at the seminars that I needed to bring home. The weight felt extremely heavy. He had a great idea. He suggested I ship some things home so I wouldn't need such a heavy suitcase. I could then transfer some items I didn't need to carry in my backpack to the suitcase and check it. There happened to be a business center/Kinko's located at the hotel where I was staying so I went down and purchased a box. I filled it with items that I didn't want to carry and I shipped it home. This enabled me to use my suitcase and lighten my backpack a little bit.
I cannot say that I had dramatic relief. However, my right arm is feeling less tender today. It is important for people like myself with chronic pain to be creative sometimes and do things like this to help ourselves when we need to. I may have to give up my backpack completely. I notice there are backpacks with wheels built right into them. I plan to invest in one of those in the near future.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to be a creative traveler? How about sharing some of your ideas on either my Pain Management or Migraine message boards here on WebMD.
Publish Post
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: pain management, chronic pain, travel
