Long Haul Flights and Deep Vein Thrombosis
July 24th, 2008Cutting across continents can be achieved in a day or often in half a day. Fine, your exigencies or business requires you to move around quickly. Whether you are a business traveler or on a last minute vacation, on cheap flights, or a midnight flight, certain health issues apply to anyone on long haul flights.

Deep Vein Thrombosis
The airlines need to make a profit too and therefore they will always want to utilize that extra inch of space productively, and more so, if cheap airline tickets are to be offered at all. The Economy class and other cheap tickets also mean that more seats are packed into the same space. Does that leave you comfortable for a long haul of say 14 hours non stop? Blood clots particularly in the legs is a major area of concern and frequent travel in identical situations can lead to deep vein thrombosis. In rare instances, more serious complications have also been reported.
Addressing the issue
Cheap airline tickets are indeed handy when the flying time is a few hours. But on long haul routes how cheap, your cheap airline tickets can turn out to be is subjective. Yet, you can minimize, or even eliminate the risk of deep vein thrombosis arising from frequent long haul flights, by following some or all of the following tips.
Measures to prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis
Travel at frequent intervals is almost inevitable for many of us. But some of the measures we can employ to minimize or fight the effects of a long haul flight are:
- Book an aisle seat near the bulkhead or an exit row so as to afford more leg room
- Getting up from your seat and walking around for some time at least once every hour
- Stimulate circulation of blood even while seated, by massaging lower legs, ankle, feet etc., clinching your toes etc.
- Keep yourself well hydrated, but take care not to consume alcohol because that can dehydrate you
- Consult your doctor before flying, if you have higher risks of blood clots, such as an existing problem of varicose veins



