Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Motion Sickness

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), sometimes referred to as Economy Class Syndrome, in rare instances can occur during air travel, due to inactivity.

Blood flow slows down, especially in the lower legs, and clots can form. Sometimes there are no symptoms until several days after the flight when DVT can be mistaken for a cramp. DVT can be easily avoided by using these simple tips.

Tips for dealing with DVT:

• Flex your legs frequently (at least every 30 minutes) while seated.

• Try compression stockings, but not elastic “support” hose.

• Avoid sitting with your legs crossed for more than a few minutes.

• Drink LOTS of water.

• Avoid dehydrating beverages such as alcohol & caffeine.

• If you have serious risk factors ask your doctor for a prescription of an anticoagulant.

Motion Sickness

Most airline passengers rarely experience motion sickness. Motion sickness can occur when you lose visual contact with the earth’s horizon and you are subjected to motion such as turbulence or the plane turning. This can cause the inner ear to send conflicting information to the brain. Anxiety can also exaggerate the symptoms of motion sickness.

Tips for dealing with Motion Sickness:

• Try sitting near the plane’s wings. This will reduce the motion felt.

• Try over the counter medications such as Dramamine or Bonine for short trips.

• Try Ginger (capsule form) and peppermint (mint-flavored candies).

• Eat lightly before and during your flight.

• Sit at a window seat.

• Don’t read.

• Open your air vent.

Other Airline Travel Health Advice

• Try not to fly within twelve hours after dental work because the change in cabin pressure can be painful.

• Avoid eating empty calories. They can cause a swings in your blood sugar which will affect how you feel.

• Avoid drinking much alcohol. It doesn’t take much at altitude to get drunk.

• Carry a summary of your health info. Include items such as: blood type, pre-existing health conditions, allergies, etc.

• Some researchers claim that bismuth subsahcylate (Pepto-Bismol) can help prevent “Montezuma’s Revenge” (Diarrhea caused by drinking contaminated water).

IMPORTANT

This information is not intended to and does not in any way substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider regarding any condition or health questions you may have.

Flying with Kids: Childproofing your Flight: PART 1

Parents go to great lengths to keep children safe at home and on the road. But what about in the

air? When you’re traveling by airplane, an approved child restraint system (CRS) is the only way to make sure your little one will be safe in the event of turbulence or an emergency.

Turbulence is air movement that normally cannot be seen and often occurs unexpectedly. It can be created by many different conditions, including atmospheric pressure, jet streams, air around mountains, cold or warm weather fronts or thunderstorms. Turbulence can even occur when the sky appears to be clear.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly urges you to secure your child in an appropriate restraint based on weight and size. Turbulence can happen with little or no warning. And when it does, the safest place for your child is in a CRS, not in an adult’s lap. Your arms just aren’t capable of holding your child securely, especially when turbulence is unexpected. Keeping your child in a CRS for the duration of the flight is the smart and right thing to do so that everyone in your family arrives safely at your destination.

Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for using a CRS. Be sure that the shoulder straps

are properly adjusted and fasten the airplane seat belt around the CRS as tightly as possible.

Do not place a child in a CRS designed for a smaller or larger child than indicated in the manufacturer’s instructions. The FAA recommends that a child weighing:

• Less than 20 pounds use a rear-facing CRS.

• From 20 to 40 pounds use a forward-facing CRS.

• More than 40 pounds use an airplane seat belt.

Why is ArrivedOK THE PERSONAL flight arrival tracker? Simply because when it notifies your recipients about your arrival it relies on your personal mobile phone status instead of general data from dispatcher centers like all other trackers do. Those data can be about flight delays, scheduled arrivals, departures, even about actual time of a plane’s touchdown but they say a little about YOU – whether you’re okay or not. ArrivedOK does.

Well, it goes a step further in that respect. It’s not a secret that taking off and landing are most dangerous moments of a flight. I don’t want to scare anyone but if a plane crashes at touchdown at the scheduled arrival time, a usual flight tracker still may say that it landed normally, while in fact it did not. ArrivedOK will not mislead you in that case. If you landed safely enough to be able to turn on your phone, it will notify your buddies that you’re ok. If you are not, it will keep shut.

Learn more about ArrivedOK behaviour in different situations (‘Right Time-Wrong Place’; ‘Right Place-Wrong Time’; ‘Wrong Place-Wrong Time’).

See our previous posts about flight trackers:

• Top 5 (Web) Flight Trackers
• Mobile Flight Trackers

American Airlines will begin providing Internet access on their planes, reports New York Times via AP. Aircell LLC, the provider of the service, charges $9.95 to $12.95, depending on flight length. Other airlines lined up for the service include Virgin America and JetBlue. Some content will be free, like the airline’s web site, Frommer’s travel guides, and limited news headlines.