How to Travel With Arthritis

I am much better these days, WriterArtist, but I can have bad days like this where after a meal at a restaurant, I hobble out the door until the joints get loosened up again. Yes, I think when we share our stories we feel less handicapped by the difficulties and perhaps a bit more adventuresome.

I need to be careful while traveling because my joints freeze if I don't move for couple of hours.
I only travel when I am okay and equipped with my medicines and ayurvedic oil for massaging joint pains. I remind myself that I have to get up every couple of hours to exercise my hands and limbs. You have brought up an interesting article as we all are becoming aware of this disease becoming increasingly present in more and more people.

There are probably differences in how rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis are experienced, among other variables that influence people differently. My arthritis is purely my own initiative (can't blame genes for it) because of a childhood sports injury. At least I don't have to worry that my kids will be like me when they get older. Small mercies.

I thought I'd founded that club, Frank. Oh well, just goes to show. Sheri, I am beginning to see that arthritis and rheumatism are a very complex group of painful problems, triggers to each person's suffering vary and we all learn to cope in different ways. I find that if I sit still for too long my knees simply lock, which ratchets the pain index into throbbing agony and clicky joints that others can hear when I do get up. However, if I sit for an hour or so then walk for five minutes, then sit again, the pain on moving is less. I have associated medical issues in my family, a long history of arthritis, rheumatism and digestive disorders which manifest as circulatory irritation including joint inflamation.

Sitting is very bad for stiffening the knees. I suffer a problem related to arthritis, anterior knee pain, which is felt round the edges of the kneecap. It is not arthritis, but it is felt when I rise from a chair or descend stairs. Walking is the best defence. but I need to lose some weight, but this is proving hard.

Thanks, WordChazer. I find (with full-blown arthritis), getting up and walking around only means I suffer several times with stiff knees and not just at the end of the flight. Yes, standing in place is far worse than walking. But if I walk too fast (what used to be my normal pace), I suffer the next day. Isn't it interesting how everyone can experience the same kind of thing differently!
I agree that arthritis should not be declared when getting travel insurance. It is not likely to cause any need for medical care when traveling, anyway!

As someone with stiff joints (and potential arthritis in later life) I find that getting up and walking regularly when on a long flight or drive helps. We often road trip as a foursome with our friends, who drink a lot of water, so need regular compfrt breaks. That helps me too, as not only do I drink a lot of fluid, I then find that I do need comfort breaks too.

Flights are easier when I have more legroom, but unfortunately the level of coach to allow me a footrest or footstool is beyond my budget, so walking laps around the airplane to kick start my circulation is the only way. Unless your arthritis is such that you need a wheelchair, I would advise against declaring it in travel insurance, because the companies will double the price and then blink.

If I'm travelling in the UK by road, and know that the destination will mean a lot of walking, I have a cane. Otherwise my husband is well trained to having one shoulder pulled out of line when I lean on him and hobble at my worst. I walk better at speed, and nothing makes me hurt more than having to move at millimetres-per-hour in crowds or lines.

Last night, when reading, I discovered that nettle tea is a palliative for arthritis. Use the leaves of young nettles, preferably the small ones at the top, and boil them in water, then drink the resulting tea. The sting disappears in hot water. Old nettle leaves contain oxalic acid and should not be used. Nettles' value comes the fact that' they are very rich in mineral salts, because their roots stretch deep into the subsoil and draw up minerals.

Not only nettles, but white dead nettle, which has no sting, is good for arthritis.

Omega-3 is something I do, too, for my back. Didn't think of food allergens though, as I don't have allergies. But maybe those are best avoided during travels no matter what, especially as the body is exposed to new allergens.

Thanks, Frank. Apple vinegar and honey is wonderful against inflammation. However, there sometimes comes a point when such remedies no longer work. For some people it may be enough to stave off the ravages of osteosarthritis, but for others it is not.