There’s nothing worse than squirming uncomfortably in your seat during a long-haul flight and getting off the plane with excruciating back pain.
When you’re trapped inside a small cabin for hours on end, with little space to move around, it can feel impossible to prioritise your health.
Fortunately, UK-based Xander Evitts – a personal trainer who also holds a master’s degree in osteopathy – has a solution to some of the discomfort passengers might experience.
He reveals exclusively to the Daily Mail how sitting still for long periods of time on a flight to prevent back pain is ‘exacerbating the problem’.
Xander explains that one of the biggest mistakes people make on long plane journeys is ‘psychological’.
‘The link between back pain and damage is so far from what we believe,’ he says. ‘So a lot of the time you get people that are really stressed, jump on a plane, sit still for a long period of time, and and what comes of that isn’t actually so much damage.’
He says the issue is passengers preventing movement ‘because they’re worried they’ve damaged their back, and in doing so, they’re just exacerbating the problem’.
Instead of worrying, Xander advises to ‘try not to stress’ about what is already a taxing experience for your body, do some movement during the flight as well as stretches afterwards, and suggested a surprising juice that could help alleviate any pain.
Xander recommends drinking Montmorency cherry juice because of its anti-inflammatory properties.
‘Cherry juice is really good before bed. It’s one of the most studied natural remedies that mimics the pathway of ibuprofen and anti-inflammatory,’ he explains.
He says the handy liquid is affordable, easy to get hold of and ‘really effective’.
‘It helps a lot with muscle soreness as well, it won’t heal the injury if there is one, but it will help the process of getting back to normal so much,’ Xander says. ‘I find that really handy, because always in my bag for flying with clients.’
He adds: ‘From a perspective of if you’re traveling, it’s almost like people don’t realise it’s quite stressful in your body.’
Xander compares being on a flight to going to an exercise boot camp – both are stressful experiences that the body will need to relax from.
‘Even if it’s 10pm, 11pm at night, I’ll take my clients for 20 to 30, minute walk, give them that tart cherry, just have gentle movements, reassure them that this isn’t serious harm or injury,’ he says.
‘Pain doesn’t mean damage, it just means there’s been a little chemical change and the alarm bells have gone off. You’ve done something stressful and unusual for yourself.’
He always packs travel pouches of the cherry extract in his carry-on for flights.
Xander recommends drinking the juice before bed as it can help with sleep, too.
Movement during flight can help keep you comfortable and Xander urges travellers to listen to your body.
He argues there ‘is no such thing as good or bad posture’ and that ‘being still’ is the real problem on long journeys.
Xander compares hunger pains to ‘movement pains’.
He says: ‘So although you might get a guide that says, “Every 30 minutes, get up on your flight,” I would argue if you feel like you need to move after 15 minutes, don’t ignore that sign.’
He recommends ‘quick, simple and logical’ movements, like standing on your tiptoes.
‘The reason for that is that your calves are almost like your second heart, we sometimes say, because the squeezing of that muscle helps push up the blood from your feet, it just helps the blood return to your heart.’
Walking up and down the aisle as well as ‘being on your tiptoes 20 or 30 times and listening to your body in terms of when to get up’ are all great ways to stay comfortable on flights, according to Xander.
As for after the journey, Xander says that although you might be in pain, he reiterates that ‘your back isn’t broken’ and just needs unfolding.
He recommends trying various stretches and exercises for relief, like the ‘half kneeling stretch’.
Xander Evitts is a UK-based osteopath and performance coach with over 15 years experience in the field; he is recognised as a leading expert in fitness and pain management.
