How to Stay Healthy During a Flight

How to Stay Healthy During a Flight

Breathe

Our bodies may not realize it during flight, but we are thousands of feet up in the air. Though the cabins of today’s aircraft are pressurized, allowing us to soar in the thinner layers of the atmosphere, it is still more taxing for most people than their everyday environments. Breathing is more labored, and there’s less oxygen available in the air. This puts an extra burden on our bodies. What many people are not aware of is the fact that cabins in aircraft are only pressurized to a 3,000 to 8,000 ft. elevation to minimize costs, meaning that the air pressure and density is similar to altitudes at those heights. Though it is exponentially better than the actual altitude of the aircraft, it is still more taxing on most passengers than what they’re used to. Also, the humidity in a plane cabin is much lower than a comfortable ground environment, such as at home, school at work; aircraft cabins generally keep the humidity at about 10% to 25%, which is 10% to 25% lower than a comfortable environment below. The best thing to do is to breathe, slowly and deeply, whenever you think about it. To avoid air getting trapped in the sinus cavities and ears, swallow or chew gum.

Be Active

The longer a flight, the less physical activity we’re going to get. Yet, we’re not meant to be inactive for so long. During a flight, our muscles are subject to cramps and strain from this stasis, especially on longer-haul distances. The best thing to do is to get up and stretch and perhaps walk up and down the cabin aisle; once per hour is ideal to keep your muscles from cramping and your blood circulating well. One risk of air travel is developing “economy-class syndrome”, which are leg clots or deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Seating and leg room are cramped, and that in conjunction with the low cabin pressure and your body’s increased proneness to dehydration make leg clots a very possible problem. Aside from getting up and moving about every hour, travelers should try to contract their calf muscles and do simple exercises such as tapping their feet and wiggling the toes to increase blood circulation. Taking an aspirin before a flight has also been suggested to keep away DVT, since it helps to thin the blood, making clotting less likely.

Eat Less

Eating less before and during a flight will give less for your digestive system to have to metabolize, which not only will have you requiring less water (digestion increases the body’s need for water), but will allow you to be more comfortable by not being bloated and gaseous.

Battle the Pressure

Because of the high altitudes, pressure buildup can render us uncomfortable and annoyed. During takeoff and landing, with the rapid changes in altitude, chew, yawn, and swallow constantly; this helps to equalize the pressure in your middle ear. Taking a decongestant prior to a flight can help by shrinking the membranes in your sinus cavities and ears, reducing the pain that comes with the “ear popping.”

Assist Your Immune System

Avoid foods and drinks heavy in sugar, since sugar promotes phlegm buildup, which can become a thriving environment for bacteria thrive. Take an immune system-boosting product such as Airborne to increase your body’s ability to fight off disease. On a plane, you are in close quarters for hours with people who may have colds, viruses, conjunctivitis, and other maladies; exercise caution by boosting your immune systems and fortifying it to meet the challenge. Some doctors even recommend a heavy regimen of increased Vitamin C and echinacea intake starting three days prior to the flight. Also, the air conditioning on a flight may be intense, especially after leaving a hot environment, so pack a light jacket in your carry-on to negate the drastic temperature changes which can also wreak havoc on your body.

Stay Moisturized

A spray bottle of water, if you can bring it aboard, can provide a welcome, cooling relief to the dry air inside a plane cabin. Regular moisturizers and lotions work well, but also adding essential oils, such as geranium, rose, and lemon, to water will help. Along with moisturizing our bodies externally, it is also important to remember some of our other sensitive areas that require moisturization. Due to that lower humidity, it may be a good idea to carry some kind of inhaler or nasal spray; that dry cabin air often cause nosebleeds in many fliers. Keep eye drops by you in your carry-on luggage also, especially if you wear contacts.

Use Common Sense

Apart from the advice listed above, simple common sense should suffice to keep you healthy and happy during air travel. We are mostly sensible people in everyday scenarios, not allowing ourselves blatant and undue harm and risk of disease or infection; simply keep in mind that air travel should require some extra TLC from you to your body, and you will most likely be just fine.

Bon voyage!

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