Useful tips

Air travel and blood clots

Risk increases with time in the air. A flight of less than two hours may be free of risk unless it follows another flight of two or more hours or if you spent two hours in your seat waiting to take off. It is assumed that about 100 air travellers dies every year of blood clots.

Recommendations to prevent risk of thrombosis injury:

• Traveller's with little heightened risk for blood clots, are recommended to wear medical compression hose
• Traveller's with medium heightened risk for blood clots ( e.g.cancer, recent surgery, obesity, diabetes, heart disease ) are recommended recent to talk to their doctor about taking anticoagulants as Heparin
• Traveller's with high risk for blood clots (e.g mutiple - thrombosis) are mostly recommended to take anticoagulant medicine before departure and after arrival.
• Do not rely in taking Aspirin

Factors to reduce risk of thrombosis injury:

• Don't wear anything that could impede the circulation
• Risk increases with time in the air. A flight of less than two hours may be free of risk unless it follows another flight of two or more hours or if you spent two hours in your seat waiting to take off.
• Frequent leg flexing, as described below:

1. Extend your legs straight out in front of you and flex your ankles, pulling up and spreading your toes, then pushing down and curling the toes. If your shoes limit toe movement, just make the effort and don't worry, or remove the shoes.
2. If there isn't room to extend your legs, start with your feet flat on the floor and push down and curl your toes while lifting your heels from the floor. Then, with your heels back on the floor, lift and spread your toes. Repeat this heel - toe cycle ten times.

• Sleeping is dangerous. A thirty minute nap would probably be OK, perhaps using an alarm watch to waken . You could sleep longer if there is enough room for you to lie with your legs up on the same level as your upper body. Flex thoroughly when you wake.
• Avoid sitting with your legs crossed for more than a few minutes at a time.
• Drink extra non-alcoholic caffeine-free beverages before and during your flight to avoid dehydration.

Air travel and risk for blood clots Resource:

Travel and venous thrombosis: a systematic review.
Kuipers S, Schreijer AJ, Cannegieter SC, Büller HR, Rosendaal FR, Middeldorp S.
J Intern Med. 2007 Dec;262(6):615-34. Review
Blood clots still a risk weeks after air travel.
[No authors listed]
Health News. 2004 Jan;10(1):14. No abstract available.
No Data.

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