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Tam’s Updated 9 Tips on How to Travel with Chronic Pain.

Update 2020: I published this blog in December 2017, and it is one of the most popular blogs on my site. Many of us, especially as we get older, experience pain and uncertainty. I just had a left hip replacement 5 weeks ago! I’ve been traveling the last couple of years with an increasingly bad and super painful hip in addition to my back problems, but I have managed, and let me tell you how!

Knowing how to travel with chronic pain is very important for me. When I began solo traveling and performing citizen science, after my children left home, one of my family’s major concerns was how I would manage my back pain while traveling solo. What would I do without help? I have had two major back surgeries, and I am fused from L2-S2 with rods and 8 pedicle screws. In other words, my spine looks like a madman’s science project! Heavy lifting is a major issue for me in all aspects, and since I do volunteer scuba diving trips, I make arrangements before I go to be sure it is understood I need assistance with the weight of the tank. In addition to my chronic back pain, I have Psoriatic Arthritis which flares up when it is most inconvenient. Plus, as I said above, the last few years I have been traveling with terrible left hip pain (I just had a hip replacement, thank goodness). I have learned about taking care of myself when I travel with chronic pain, which is bascially all the time, and I’m happy to share these lessons, and tell you what works for me. [Read more…] about Tam’s Updated 9 Tips on How to Travel with Chronic Pain