Healthy Habits: Summertime Travel with RA

Summertime may bring new adventures, including travel for business or pleasure. But having a chronic disease may require extra planning to help keep you comfortable, wherever you go.

That’s especially true with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Experts recommend keeping stress in check and moving regularly to help avoid joint stiffness while on the road.¹

Other travel tips for people with RA include:

·         Taking a lightweight bag with spinning wheels²

·         Checking your bags

·         Bringing heat wraps and cold wraps¹

·         Staying hydrated¹

In advance of National Arthritis Awareness Month in May, our guests, rheumatologist Dr. Grace Wright and Maria, a person living with RA, offer tips to help make traveling easier for those with RA. Dr. Wright also talks about the role that treatment plays in managing RA.

Facts about RA

·         In RA, the immune system attacks the tissuesof the joints, causing inflammation, pain, and eventually joint damage and disability if not treatedappropriately³

·         RA affects approximately 1.3 million Americans, with nearly 75 percent being women⁴

·         It most often strikes people between 30 and 60 years old; however, it can occur in adults at any age⁵

Interview: Courtesy of Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Disclaimer: Dr. Wright is being compensated for time away from her practice and reimbursed for her travel expenses. Maria is being reimbursed for her travel expenses.