Tips for Keeping Your Body Fit During Long Flights

Contents:

Medical Video: Prevent DVT On Long Flights | Exercises To Prevent DVT | DVT Flight Socks | Reduce DVT Risk (2018)

For those of you who like to travel by plane, one of the problems that you often face might be a long travel time. Spending long periods of time on the plane certainly makes your body uncomfortable. In fact, you certainly want to keep looking and feeling refreshed when you arrive at the destination. Here are some tips that you can apply.

What happens to the body during long flights?

Swollen feet, dry throat and eyes, headaches, and dehydration may be some of the things you often feel when traveling on a plane for a long time.

Most aircraft fly at an altitude of 35,000 feet above sea level. At this height, the air layer gets thinner and the air pressure drops. To overcome this, the aircraft cabin is specifically designed to maintain such pressure at an altitude of 7000 feet, but still this makes you like sitting on a mountain for hours.

As a result, lower air pressure and thinner oxygen levels in the air make the oxygen in your body decrease. Not only that, the decrease in air pressure also often makes a person become bloated and experience ear pain.

In addition, low humidity also makes your skin and eyes dry. Not only that, dry air also affects the lining of the respiratory tract. When the airway layer loses moisture, its function as body armor will also decrease. As a result, its ability to catch germs that enter through the air will decrease.

Not only can air pressure be a problem, too long sitting can also cause a buildup of fluid in the legs which makes the feet become swollen.

How do you keep your body fit after a long flight?

1. Take care of your body fluids

Keeping your body well hydrated is one of the keys to keep it fresh throughout the trip. Dry air makes you need more fluid than usual, and dehydration can make your skin dry. Don't hesitate to ask the flight attendant for water to maintain your body fluid balance. Avoid drinks that contain caffeine, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners. Caffeine, alcohol, and sugar can make you lose more fluids than you consume,

2. Fight dry air

In addition to meeting the fluid needs of the body, you can use skin moisturizers so that your body doesn't dry out. Bring a small size skin moisturizer that is allowed to be brought into the cabin, and apply the moisturizer as often as possible to prevent your skin from losing moisture.

For the eyes, you can bring eye drops containing artificial tears (artificial tears) so that your eyes don't feel dry. This is important, especially if you wear contact lenses.

3. Alert changes in pressure on the ear

Changes in air pressure, especially when taking off and landing often make the ears feel uncomfortable or even painful. This is because the eustachian tube, a channel that connects the ear cavity with the outside air, continues to open and close, trying to balance the air pressure in your ear with the outside air.

To overcome this, you can try chewing candy, yawning, or swallowing hard. This activity can help keep your eustachian tube open. Besides that, use ear plug can also help slow changes in air pressure to your ears.

If you are having a cold, the condition of the air pressure in the cabin can aggravate blocked ear and nose pain. You can use a nasal spray or nasal spray one day before flying and repeat it every two hours while on the plane.

4. Many moves

The position of a chair that is upright and narrow, and sitting for a long time certainly makes you feel uncomfortable. But not only that, this position can interfere with blood circulation, as a result it will be more pronounced in passengers with advanced age.

Civil aviation authority (CAA) warns that sitting on flights for more than four hours can increase the risk of experiencing DVT (deep vein thrombosis) or the formation of blockages in the veins in the legs. This usually makes the feet swell and reduce the circulation of oxygen throughout the body.

To prevent this, you can stand up and walk every one to two hours for several minutes to facilitate blood flow throughout the body. Some airlines usually also provide tips for doing light exercise in a seat, you can read it in a magazine that is usually found on the seat. You are also advised to wear loose clothing, because tight clothing can help slow circulation in the body.

5. Increase your body's defenses before flying

The cabin environment that is not too conducive to health makes your immune condition decrease. To work around this, you can eat yogurt every day for a few before flying. The content of probiotics contained in it can strengthen the defense system in the intestine and throughout the body. You can also increase your body's immunity by eating lots of vegetables and fruit before traveling far. In addition, several small studies also say that taking vitamin D can improve the immune system and protect you from flu.

Tips for Keeping Your Body Fit During Long Flights
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