NEW YORK, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- What could make a person choose to work on a Saturday, spend a weekend with in-laws or serve jury duty? According to a new study among frequent travelers, it's pain and discomfort while traveling long distances. Of the 1,000 frequent travelers surveyed, almost 70% rated fatigue and muscle pain as the two worst parts of traveling, interfering with sleep and post-arrival productivity.

As someone who travels around the world both professionally and for personal enjoyment, Phil Keoghan, host of the award-winning TV show The Amazing Race, knows first-hand the toll traveling can take on the body. "Sitting in the same, restricted position for hours can cause muscle cramps and joint soreness that can last well after the trip ends," said Keoghan. "In my line of work, I can't afford to take a day off after a long trip because I've got back pain or leg cramps after a red-eye flight."

Keoghan's not alone. More than half of all frequent travelers complained of their travel-related pain lasting for a few hours after their trip to well into the following day. Not surprisingly, two out of three reported feeling less productive after their journey due to travel-related pain, and one out of four respondents had to change their plans after arriving at their destination.

Fortunately, high rate of complaints about travel-related pain are accompanied by a plethora of effective solutions to address the problem. Survey participants, for most of whom the back, hips and knees were the worst effected when in transit, recommended stretching, taking pain-relieving medication and applying heat (via heat wraps or a heating pad) as the best ways to cope with travel pain. Travel professionals, like Keoghan, tend to agree.

"For me, staying fit and in motion is paramount and popping pain pills is not a safe or viable option when I travel 300 days a year," Keoghan added. "When I'm on the road or in flight I take frequent breaks to stretch my back and legs through yoga poses or just walking. I also wear a disposable heat wrap called ThermaCare on my back and knees to soothe cramping and pain in the muscles and joints."

Other tips travelers relied on to make trips more comfortable included limiting alcohol consumption, drinking water and bringing your own pillow.

For complete survey results, contact Christina Witz at 212-891-0455 or cwitz@devries-pr.com.

About ThermaCare(R)

ThermaCare is an air-activated heat wrap designed to deliver eight hours of continuous low-level heat directly to the site of pain. Each wrap contains small discs made of heat-generating ingredients (iron, charcoal, table salt and water) that heat up to 104 degrees F (40oC) when exposed to oxygen in the air. ThermaCare HeatWraps(R) are available in the pain relief aisle of local retailers nationwide. P&G offers a money-back guarantee to encourage consumers to experience the remarkable benefits of ThermaCare in place of their standard pain relief regimen. This heat therapy should not be used on conditions where heat may potentially damage tissue, such as in patients with diabetes, poor circulation to the hand, wrist, low back and knee or diminished sensation to pain and temperature in the hand, wrist, low back and knee. It is recommended to ask your doctor whether ThermaCare is right for you if you have diabetes, poor circulation, rheumatoid arthritis, or if you are pregnant. For more information about ThermaCare HeatWraps, visit http://www.thermacare.com/.

About Procter & Gamble

Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Dawn(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Actonel(R), Duracell(R), Olay(R), Head & Shoulders(R), Wella, Gillette(R), and Braun. The P&G community consists of over 135,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

CONTACT: Ashoke Mitra, Ph.D., P&G Health Sciences Institute,
+1-513-622-2793, mitra.ak@pg.com; Christina Witz, DeVries Public Relations,
+1-212-891-0455, cwitz@devries-pr.com

Web site: http://www.pg.com/
http://www.thermacare.com/