How Frequent Flyers Combat Vein Illness
For some people, the movie “Up in The Air” is all too familiar. Gorge Clooney plays a character that might exaggerate today’s frequent flyer, but only to an extent. From long layovers in Atlanta, to sitting on the tarmac in Los Angeles, or even standing at the gate while your flight is delayed for the fourth time, frequent flyers are on the move, even when they are stationary. As a frequent flyer, or as someone who travels once a year to visit family in Seattle, you may wonder how to maintain your health, inside in out. It’s no surprise that airplanes are tight, compressed, aluminum tubes that are anything but helpful to your health. The circulated air, closer proximity to other people, and poorly cooked food puts your wellbeing at risk. At the USA Vein Clinics, we provide a series of vein illness treatments for the frequent, and not so frequent, traveler alike! To help you overcome these obstacles, here are some tips from frequent flyers on how to maintain your vein health. First, skip the booze. Patients who visit our clinics seeking varicose vein leg pain treatment and who travel regularly also tend to take advantage of the free booze 30,000 feet in the sky. Mixing alcohol with less oxygen reduces your blood circulation. When this happens, blood collects and begins to swell in certain parts of your body. Over time, this can lead to spider and varicose veins, to name a few vein illnesses. While vein illness laser therapy is always a simple and effective way to treat these, it’s better to avoid them in the first place! One helpful tip: drink more water in the air than you would on the ground. You may need to get up and visit the lavatory often, but it will help with blood circulation and keep you hydrated. Next, get up and walk around. Short, domestic hops that are less than an hour and a half don’t necessarily count. However, if you are seated in a five-hour transcontinental flight twice a week, chances are you will increase your risk of developing a vein illness. A common vein illness from stagnated blood when seated too long is varicose veins. At the USA Vein Clinics, we offer varicose vein leg pain treatment through a variety of methods, most being non-surgical. However, if you don’t already have leg pain and swelling and wish to avoid varicose veins, stretch your legs every few hundred miles. Your body will thank you and you may even make friends with the flight attendants! Third, wear compression socks. For most of our patients who receive vein illness laser therapy, we recommend that they wear compression socks following the procedure to help maintain healthy blood flow throughout their legs. Flying in a pressurized tube is surprisingly no different! While they may not be the most fashion-forward in style, compression socks are a great and easy way to keep blood flowing through your legs while flying. If you tend to sleep on flights or if your flying intercontinental often, compression socks will prevent the formation of spider and varicose veins in your legs. These simple outwear socks might be the one thing standing in-between you and vein illness laser therapy!