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Steps to Prevent DVT or Economy Class Syndrome:
http://www.worldwidevacationspots.com/articles/43/1/Steps-to-Prevent-DVT-or-Economy-Class-Syndrome/Page1.html
By Lucy Tucker
Published on 10 September 2006
 

 

There are simple safety precautions to be taken during long haul air travel.

  1. Avoid sleeping pills before or during the flight
  2. Avoid long periods of sleep during the flight
Do seat exercises, such as ankle rolls and toe pointing. Exercise the calf, and
Steps to Prevent DVT or Economy Class Syndrome on a Long Haul Flight

There are simple safety precautions to be taken during long haul air travel.

  1. Avoid sleeping pills before or during the flight
  2. Avoid long periods of sleep during the flight
  3. Do seat exercises, such as ankle rolls and toe pointing. Exercise the calf, and thigh muscles by contracting and relaxing them, as well as rotating the ankles!!
  4. Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration
  5. Get up and move about periodically, but at least every hour.
  6. Limit carry on luggage so there is plenty of leg room
  7. Obtain a seat with as much leg room as possible, such as in the first class cabin, on an aisle, or in back of a bulkhead
  8. Talk with your doctor about taking aspirin for its blood-thinning properties. An aspirin tablet can be taken unless you are under 16, or have a history of gastric ulcers, high blood pressure, or a history of sensitivity to aspirin
  9. Walk around the airport before and between flights.
  10. Wear loose, comfortable clothing for all air travel.
  11. Alcohol should be taken in moderation
  12. A combination of two glasses of red wine, aspirin and a lot of soft drinks is a perfectly acceptable way to stay healthy as well as helping a long air travel journey to pass!!

IF YOU HAVE A HISTORY OF THROMBOSIS wearing compression stockings is an essential precaution.

How do Gradient Compression Socks and Stockings help prevent dvt during air travel?

Gradient compression stockings help prevent the veins in your legs from becoming over filled with blood (congested).

Veins that are congested with blood make your legs feel heavy.

They may ache and fatigue easily.

These stockings act to prevent leg swelling by counteracting pressures inside the leg and promoting blood flow back to the heart rather than allowing blood to pool in the legs.

Compression squeezes the legs. Gradient compression hosiery (often called elastic stockings) are recommended to control leg swelling and leg discomfort and to prevent skin changes.

What is "Gradient Compression?"

Socks and stockings that are made tightest at the ankle and gradually decrease in tightness as they go up the leg are called gradient stockings. 

Please note it is now possible to be screened to identify if genetically you have an increased chance of a dvt.

For example a man having hormonal treatment for cancer of the prostate and has a genetically identifiable clotting factor problem has a dramatically increased chance of developing a dvt.

The same would hold true for a lady taking HRT with the same genetic profile.

 If you are anxious about your susceptibility to dvt during air travel then you can get yourself screened