Health problems

While planning your journey you may have wondered how to avoid unpleasant feelings in the airplane as well as how to keep good physical and psychological condition after sitting for a few hours. The text below will answer all your questions concerning ailments during the flight as well as things you can do to assure yourself a peaceful journey.

Travel-sickness

You may start to feel sick just after the airplane takes off. In order to avoid nausea, despite the common beliefs, remember not to travel with an empty stomach! However, try to eat something light like fresh fruit or vegetables, instead of two-course dinner. During the flight you can also eat shortbread biscuits or muesli bars. Just before the flight try nor to drink alcohol, strong coffee or tea and avoid smoking cigarettes.  Take vitamin B1, which is responsible for transmitting nerve impulses and which helps to alleviate ailments concerning  unstable balance. Food which contains vitamin B1: porridge oats, fish, rice, asparagus, mealy products and pork. Ginger is also effective and well-tired medicine for nausea. You can drink ginger tea a few hours before the flight and surely you will forget about all these unpleasant ailments.

Your seat in the airplane is also an important factor. If it is possible we advise you to choose a window seat, above the wing. This place is least prone to be exposed to turbulences.

Ear aches

You can suffer from ear aches as a result of  pressure changes. They may increase especially during the landing.  Though healthy people do not usually feel ear aches, those who have problems with their respiratory tract may suffer form it.  So if you suffer form otitis,  cold or sinusitis, consult your doctor before the flight since traveling by plane may worsen your condition.

In order to alleviate ear ache yawn or swallow your saliva and, if these do not help, breath deeply, plug your nose and try to blew the air through your ears.

Chewing gum is also helpful in balancing pressure in your body. You can also use nose drops as a last resort.

Jetlag

When you travel through different time zones you may, instead of taking pleasure form beautiful weather and views, feel tired, irritated, you may suffer form headache or you may have problems with concentration. These ailments, as well as others, may be the cause of  disruption of your daily rhythm. They increase if you travel for West to East since your body is more prone to adapt to a longer day than to loose a few hours of sleeping at night.

Advices for those traveling to the West:

• try not to sleep during the flight
• if it is possible try to move as much as it is possible. Drink a lot of water so you will not feel sleepy
• eat products which contains albumen (cheese, fish, eggs etc), they will also help to eliminate sleepiness
• a few days before the flight try to adapt your body to a new daily rhythm – go to sleep two hours earlier and wake up earlier the next day
• avoid taking sleeping pills, use natural and well-tired ways to avoid insomnia (i.e. a herbal tea)
• in the destination place plan your meetings in the evening – your body will be in a good shape at that time of the day
• avoid alcohol since it delays the changes in your body

A few more important advices

• remember to set your watch according to a time in the destination place. Do it as soon as you get on the plane so you will adapt to a new daily rhythm just after landing.
• try to adapt to meal times, sleeping hours etc. in the new place
• after your arrival to the destination place avoid physical and mental effort. Let your body adapt to a new daily rhythm; try to spend as much time as it is possible on the fresh air in order to gather strength
• if you take medicine at the exact time of the day, you need to consult your doctor before the journey

Blood clot

Blood clots in your limbs may appear when your travel a long-distance journey and when you stay in one position for a long time. This disease usually does not show any symptoms, however sometimes you may feel your limbs go numb or become swollen. Hardly ever, when the blood clot is very is extensive, its parts may get to your heart or lungs and it may cause a lung clot. Its symptoms are: pain in the chest and trouble with breathing. These symptoms may appear even a few days after the flight.

Remember that the risk of blood clot in the veins is small. People at risk of this disease are those who: are more than sixty years old, people who had been diagnosed with blood clots before, obese people, pregnant women, people with cancer, women who take contraception pills and who smoke, people who lately underwent surgery as well as people who are diagnosed with  blood coagulability and those who have varicose vein. All of those people are advised to consult their doctor before the flight!

How to avoid blood clot?

• try to bend your limbs from time to time, try not to cross them
• drink a lot of water, avoid alcohol and caffeine
• wear baggy clothes in the plane

Comments:

• people who are diagnosed with contagious diseases should not travel by planes
• low humidity in the plane may cause the feeling of dryness in your eyes,  mouth and nose – those who wear contact lenses should wear glasses during the flight; we also advice to drink a lot of water in order to avoid dehydration.
• those with peacemakers are allowed to travel by planes, however they need to remember that pacemakers with unipolar electrode are prone to the electronic interference during the flight
• when you are diagnosed with chronic disease we advise you to consult your doctor before the flight

Source: www.esky.pl