Summer is here, which means a lot of people are going on vacation and traveling to visit friends and family. Vacations can be fun, but when you live with chronic pain, it can also be a little stressful because you may not be able to manage your pain as effectively on vacation like you would be able to at home. Pain does not take a vacation and doesn’t care if it’s your birthday or you are traveling to visit family that you rarely see. There is nothing worse than being on vacation and having to fake being well because of increased pain levels, but it can happen if we let ourselves get out of our routines too much. Pain does not go away when you are on vacation, and there is no guarantee that you will be able to avoid a flare when you are away because not everything will be within your control, but it can be enjoyable with the right preparations. How can you travel with chronic pain? In this post, I am sharing a few traveling tip if you live with pain.
Pack yourself some snacks- When you are traveling and are on vacation sometimes people go out to eat a lot more than they would at home. There is nothing wrong with that because you should be enjoying yourself and not worrying about your diet, but when you live with chronic pain, eating fast food every single day might not be the best idea. I have had more food sensitivities because of endometriosis, that I did not always have, and I can’t eat a huge piece of cake, and I only worry about gaining weight. I constantly have to be thinking about the foods I am eating because nutrition plays a major role in pain management, and I have to make sure that most of the things I eat support my pain. When you are on vacation, you have control over what foods you order at restaurants, but you are not always in control over what restaurants you go to, because sometimes you have to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. If you are traveling and go to a fast-food restaurant that doesn’t have a lot of safe options, it can be helpful to bring snacks that will hold you over but won’t trigger your pain.
Manage your stress levels as much as you can- Vacations should be fun, and we shouldn’t be stressing a lot, but when you live with pain, sometimes you do have more stress than someone without pain. Stress can cause increased pain, and it is so important that you do the best you can to manage your stress, so you don’t cause a flare. I would hope that you don’t have a lot of family drama on vacation, but sometimes people get tired and are overly dramatic about things, and cause stress. Stress management is so important for pain management, and if you are around someone who is causing you stress, walk away and try to do something that will help lower your stress. Stress is not the cause of my pain, but I sometimes will have more pain when I am stressed, so I try not to stress about things I can’t control, and when I do find myself stressed, I take a step back and breathe.
Make sure you have more than enough supplies– When you are on vacation, sometimes it can be difficult to manage increased pain because you don’t always have access to things that help improve your pain on vacation that you would at home. Before you travel, it is so important that you make sure you have more than enough meds because you never know if there will be delays at the airport, and your vacation is longer than you originally planned for, or you have a flare that you weren’t expecting. When I travel, I always make sure that I have enough medication and catheters because you can’t pick those up at the store when you run out. Make sure you have enough medication and anything you would need to manage a flare, because you never know if your pain is going to increase while you are on vacation, and you want to have access to deal with that if it were to happen. I always prepare for the worst but hope for the best because I would rather be over-prepared than under-prepared. There are some things you can buy at the store if you were to run out, but you can’t get your prescribed medication, so you always want to make sure you have plenty of the things you can’t get at Walmart.
Stay hydrated and eat regularly- When you are a vacation, a lot of the time we are out sightseeing and sometimes we don’t eat as regularly we should and forget to drink water because we are preoccupied with the activity. If you are on a road trip, it is easy to get dehydrated and skip a few meals because you don’t want to have to stop and go to the bathroom too often. You should try not to skip meals and let yourself get severely dehydrated because these types of bad habits can trigger more pain. Stay hydrated and eat as regularly and healthy as possible because when you practice good habits, it helps keep your pain.
If you struggle with migraine bring electrolytes- Electrolytes aren’t necessary for everyone because you can stay hydrated by drinking plain water. I do not consume a lot of extra electrolytes, but I do have some on hand for when I exercise or have a migraine. When I go on vacation, I always bring my electrolytes because they help me avoid a migraine if I am doing outside activities and sweating a lot, or help lessen the pain if I were to have one. If you don’t have access to electrolytes, drinking regular water will help improve pain, but I like to have my electrolytes because it hydrates your body twice as fast.
Don’t skimp on sleep– When you live with chronic pain, sleep can sometimes be an issue because severe pain can prevent you from getting good quality sleep, and there is nothing you can do to change that. It can sometimes be more difficult to get good quality sleep when you are not in your own bed, but it so important that you try and sleep as much as you can. On vacation, we are busy and it’s easy to stay up half the night chatting with out-of-town family, but if you want less pain, I wouldn’t make a habit of pulling all-nighters several days a week. Sleep is so important for pain management and your health in general so don’t skimp on sleep and try and get yourself in a good routine.
Take breaks if you need them— When you are on vacation, you want to participate in activities, but when you have pain to consider, it sometimes can be hard to keep up because people with chronic pain need more breaks, and that is okay. Try not to overdo it and take breaks when you need it, because you want to make sure you aren’t doing too much and giving yourself enough rest. If someone is moving too fast, let them know because we can’t expect loved ones to read minds, and I am sure they will understand.
Traveling with pain is stressful because you can’t avoid every possible trigger, and it’s more difficult to be on top of your pain than it would be if you were at home. There is nothing you can do that will ensure you most definitely will not have increased pain, but you can prepare by making sure you have enough supplies to deal with one. If you are doing everything you can to prevent pain and still have a flare, try not to beat yourself up over it because sometimes pain is triggered for reasons you don’t know why. Do your best to prevent pain and try to enjoy yourself on vacation, and don’t let your pain ruin the time you have with your family. Never underestimate the power of regular exercise and sleep because sometimes it’s the simple things that help us feel our best. How do you manage pain while on vacation? If you like this post please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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