Driving Long Distances Can Exacerbate Chronic Back Pain is the topic of this iPain blog article. Chronic back pain is one of the most significant contributors to a decreased quality of life for those who suffer from it. As a result, many seek some treatment for it, and it often prevents them from being able to work or play effectively.
Tips to Reduce Back Pain While Behind the Wheel
Unfortunately, driving long distances can exacerbate back pain, making it much more difficult to get to where you want to go. However, there are a few steps that you can take to help relieve your back pain or prevent it from worsening while you are driving.
Use Heat Therapy
Using heat therapy, such as through a heated seat or seat cover, can help ease your back pain. This is due to heat relaxing your muscles and joints and allowing more blood to flow to the affected area.
Use Cold Therapy
Conversely, you can use cold therapy, which can be done through cold therapy packs, ice packs or even frozen vegetables if you do not have immediate access to either of the first two options. Utilizing this treatment method will help reduce inflammation that may have otherwise resulted from your chronic back pain.
Be Active
It is especially important for those with chronic back pain not to stay seated in a car for hours. Doing so will often lead to stiffening and spasming muscles and increased pain. You should increase your blood circulation. At a minimum, take a break of around 15 minutes every couple of hours, increasing from that period as necessary.
Being active in more minor ways while driving can also help if those activities are done safely. One example would be to use cruise control and then rotate your ankles.
Repair Your Car
If you have worn shocks or tires, that will increase the bouncing and vibration while diving, which can worsen chronic back pain. Get them fixed.
Use Padding
Sit on a pillow or similar item to allow for a smoother ride for your back and the rest of your body.
Practice Good Posture
Since you will be sitting behind the wheel of your car for long periods, you want to ensure that you are practicing good posture while doing so.
One of the most notable things you can do is grip your steering wheel at its sides – i.e., at the 3 and 9 positions if it were a clock. This recommendation has been updated from 2 and 10 due to the presence of airbags in most vehicles on the roads today.
You should also sit up straight and be situated in a manner that provides ten or more inches of space between your breastbone and the steering wheel. With that said, ensure that you are not too far from the steering wheel, as stretching for it not only harms your ability to drive safely but can place added stress on your back, shoulders, and neck.
To help you practice good posture, keep your back pockets empty or at least not filled with something substantial like a cellphone or wallet. Not doing so can do a number on your back.
Can Your Vehicle Type Help Reduce Back Pain?
The type of vehicle you drive can substantially impact your chronic back pain, sometimes exacerbating it while other times reducing it.
Many sufferers who have driven SUVs have complimented their ability to positively affect a driver’s chronic back pain, as they tend to absorb bumps along the road that others are not as well equipped to do. However, do keep in mind that some SUVs are much better than others as it relates to this.
Best SUVs for Chronic Back Pain Sufferers
You may want to consider a couple of the more affordable options.
The Kia Telluride has been described as “smooth-riding,” home to supportive seats. It also features a quiet cabin, which will help reduce any anxiety that you may be experiencing related to your back pain or otherwise. Watch out for uneven pavement, as the ride will tend to be rougher.
The Genesis GV70 offers a highly adjustable driver’s seat, described as “comfortable,” and an adaptive suspension, which helps improve that comfort for those suffering from chronic back pain. Also of note for these individuals is that the seats may be heated and cooled.
Here are a few of the pricier options, which are generally valued at $50,000 and up.
The Audi Q7 offers a comfortable, comfortable seat for the driver. It also features a suspension designed for a smooth, balanced ride. Its seat heating has also been described as adequate, while those inside the Q7 hear little outside noise.
The Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class features adjustable and supportive seats and an overall smooth ride. Helping the driving experience be comfortable for those enduring back pain are its heated and ventilated seats. Meanwhile, its responsive engines give drivers a feel similar to a smaller SUV.
The Mercedes-Benz Maybach GLS provides drivers with supportive, highly adjustable massaging seats that may be heated and ventilated with its high-quality suspension. The vehicle’s automated climate control system also helps drivers experience as much comfort as is possible while suffering from chronic back pain.
Final Thoughts
Driving a vehicle does not need to be an especially painful experience. Following some general tips and utilizing one such as an SUV will help you reduce the back pain you would have otherwise experienced. At the same time, you travel across your state or the country.
Author: Brittany Cotton
Publisher: International Pain Foundation, iPain Blog, Team iPain
