The shocking effect long-haul flights can have on your body and what to do about it
We all like to prepare ourselves for those tiring long-haul flights.
Travel pillow at the ready, we board the plane in our comfiest clothes armed with snacks and a series downloaded from Netflix.
A temptation to take part in the bizarre phenomenon of ‘raw-dogging’ flights is the last thing on our minds.
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Our biggest concern is usually how boring the journey will be until we reach our holiday destination - but a shocking new discovery reveals the much more sinister effects of long-haul flights.
According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the first symptom we face is feeling dry, which is because humidity on a plane is always very low.
This can result in dry skin, lips, nose and eyes, and you could be at risk of dehydration if you’re not having enough water.
If you’ve ever stepped off an aircraft with a splitting headache or experiencing dizziness, you probably need to drink more water next time.
A more serious potential effect however are blood clots, especially in the legs, which is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
This time, it isn’t actually being at altitude that causes this problem, it’s the fact that we’re sat down and effectively immobile for hours at a time.
When we spend too long sitting in one position, blood flow in the veins of our legs slows down, which can increase the risk of a blood clot forming.
So, how can we prevent this? The most obvious thing to do is to move around, take interval walks up and down the aisle and make sure to switch up your sitting position from time to time.
If you’re someone who is at risk of developing a blood clot, it might be worth getting some compression stockings to help improve blood flow.
Some warning signs that you’ve got a blood clot include swelling in the leg, red or discolored skin and your skin feeling warmer than usual to touch.
A common - and less worrying - side effect of long-haul air travel is jet lag.
When flying through different time zones it can sometimes be difficult to adjust your internal body clock to the time of your destination.
This can mean not being able to sleep at night or waking up super early - which is not ideal when you only have a precious few days on holiday.
So, what can we do about it?
It might be a good idea to try to adjust to the new time zone a couple days before your flight, either going to bed earlier or later than normal so that the change to your internal clock isn’t too drastic.
When you get to your destination, try to stay awake until a normal bedtime before falling asleep on your first night.