{"id":2120,"date":"2012-08-16T10:43:16","date_gmt":"2012-08-16T09:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/?p=2120"},"modified":"2025-01-23T15:57:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T15:57:20","slug":"2120","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/2120\/","title":{"rendered":"Most common insurance claims made by travelers are for back pain, respiratory issues and gastrointestinal problems."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When we think about medical emergencies while traveling, many people instantly conjure up images of airlifts out of disaster areas. But those occurrences are thankfully rare. More commonly, people suffer bumps, bruises and maybe breaks, and the \u201cemergency\u201d stems from lack of familiarity with the health system in a foreign land writes\u00a0<a title=\"Posts by John Miller\" href=\"http:\/\/www.healthytravelblog.com\/author\/johnmiller\/\" rel=\"author\">John Miller<\/a>\u00a0for the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.healthytravelblog.com\/\">healthytravelblog.com<!--more--><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0<a title=\"http:\/\/expathealth.org\/healthcare-news\/most-common-claims-made-on-international-health-insurance\/\" href=\"http:\/\/expathealth.org\/healthcare-news\/most-common-claims-made-on-international-health-insurance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new study<\/a>\u00a0shows that, once again, travelers tend to suffer the same ailments \u2013 for at least the second straight year, the most common insurance claims made by travelers are for back pain, respiratory issues and gastrointestinal problems.<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to help you get through your trip without encountering some of these naggings travel aches and pains, here are some tips:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Avoiding Back Pain<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lift those suitcases properly<\/strong>. Do not bend from the waist. Bend your knees and try to keep your weight in your heels. The legs are the most powerful part of your body (you know this, right?); let\u2019s use those quadriceps.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stretch<\/strong>. When traveling, you\u2019re often scrunched up into smaller-than-usual spaces, like airplane seats. Each morning, it\u2019s a good idea to do at least some gentle stretching, especially if you\u2019re going to be walking a lot, or gathering up your things to head to the next destination.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be careful making the bed<\/strong>. Yes, even mundane things like making the bed can cause you to throw out your back, if you stretch and twist the wrong way. So move your feet, and don\u2019t stretch too far. Or better yet, let the maid service take care of it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Avoiding Respiratory Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Putting a halt on respiratory infections and other issues can be difficult. After all, we\u2019re talking generally about airborne issues that you don\u2019t see coming, and there isn\u2019t a whole lot you can do to stop a virus.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wash your hands<\/strong>. The best way to stave off infections is by frequently washing your hands. Germs are most frequently passed along by handshakes and touching public objects.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Limit travel during flu season<\/strong>. There are obviously more sick people traveling during flu season \u2013 more on the plane, more in the hotel, more in that business meeting. If you can avoid or limit travel in the fall and winter, it could keep you breathing easier.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Steer clear of pollution<\/strong>. Air pollution is a major cause of respiratory infection. If you can help it, stay away from areas where clean air standards aren\u2019t up to snuff.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Avoiding Gastrointestinal Problems<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wash your hands<\/strong>.\u00a0<strong>Again.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s never a bad idea to wash your hands frequently. Or use a hand sanitizer. If your hands are getting dry, get some moisturizer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>For food allergies, there is no vacation<\/strong>. You\u2019re in Paris and you want that dish with the cream sauce, but you\u2019re lactose intolerant?\u00a0<em>Say non, monsieur<\/em>. Think your gluten issue will go away because you\u2019re in Florence? Wrong again. We know you want to cut loose because you\u2019re away from home, but not listening to your body will come back to haunt you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Reproduced by ALC Health with kind permission of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.healthytravelblog.com\/\">healthytravelblog.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When we think about medical emergencies while traveling, many people instantly conjure up images of airlifts out of disaster areas. But those occurrences are thankfully rare. More commonly, people suffer bumps, bruises and maybe breaks, and the \u201cemergency\u201d stems from lack of familiarity with the health system in a foreign land writes\u00a0John Miller\u00a0for the healthytravelblog.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alc-health-news","category-alc-travel-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3674,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120\/revisions\/3674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchealth.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}