• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
 
Leg recovery during a long flight-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery SpecialistCopyright 2008 Michael Gillan
 
http://seniors.aching-legs-relief.com/airlines_and_after-flight_recovery.html 1
Minimizing swollen legs and ankles in flight
Many baby boomers are taking long flights to various destinations around the world for theirown reasons-but in these days of super aircraft with hundreds of seats available for filling, andless need for stops in between main destinations it means more time in the air
Preventing the ankles swelling like this can be a problem
These are my ankles after a long trip from Australia to Europe
 Extra air time means that the body has to adjust to sitting down for longer periods during theflight with problems of soreness and swollen ankles to deal with-There are various strategies for the baby boomer to approach swollen ankles and prevention of ‘economy class syndrome’ as they call deep vein thrombosis and they should be implementedand used in conjunction (with medical advice) but no matter what you do or wear on the flightto keep it at bay-it is no substitute for moving
Movement is the key to preventing both the anklesswellingand minimizing thechances of developingdeep vein thrombosis-Why is moving more effective? 
Sometime during the pre-flight briefing that you were not listening to, the airline probablymade an announcement, mentioned a card/showed a video about moving the legs to helpprevent which can also help keep the ankles from swelling
The calf muscle pump
The way blood and fluid get shifted from the lower legs back to the body for renourishmentand recycling is through the venous system-the veins have one-way valves in them whichprevents leakage back down towards the feet againTo enable this upwards movement, the pumping system is powered by the calf muscles actingas the motor-they apply pressure to the veins which opens the valves then releases it which letsthe valve flaps close.To apply and release this pressure, the calf muscles have to move otherwise all the blood in thelower legs just becomes static-nothing is moving, fresh blood can’t enter the muscle tissues anddepleted blood and other fluid can’t leave them
 
Leg recovery during a long flight-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery SpecialistCopyright 2008 Michael Gillan
 
http://seniors.aching-legs-relief.com/airlines_and_after-flight_recovery.html 2When depleted blood is left to stagnate, the water or lymphatic fluid separates from thedepleted blood and makes its way through the vessel walls where it fills the tissue spaces; as itcannot be pumped away the fluid pools in the lower legs and the ankles swell.
Separation of water (or lymph fluid) from the blood
For the travelling baby boomer or senior flier, this means problems because when the waterleaves the blood it upsets the balance between 2 important components that are part of theblood complexThese particular components are clotting agents that make the blood congeal and stop the flowof blood to an injury site when we are have been hurt-and anti clotting agents that prevent itclotting before it should, this is responsible for the free flow of blood around the bodyIf the balance between them is changed in favour of the clotting agents, then blood clots canform anywhere in the veins-if it changes in favour of the anti-clotting agents then if you cutyourself then you could bleed to death without medical help
Deep Vein Thrombosis
The body is a column of fluid held in by the skin; it is made up of blood and water, whichflows through a series of vessels called veins and arteries that supply the muscle tissues withblood when the legs stop moving on a long flight so does the blood.Clots in the veins can be very dangerous because they may break away and lodge further up inthe body causing a blockage of blood flow to the heart and this may result in serious illness ordeathIn this picture you can see the difference in legs after my flight-notice the width and tightnessfrom the fluid build up and the bright redness from the trapped blood trying to get into themuscle tissues and unable to
 
Leg recovery during a long flight-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery SpecialistCopyright 2008 Michael Gillan
 
http://seniors.aching-legs-relief.com/airlines_and_after-flight_recovery.html 3(I knew all about deep vein thrombosis but being an experimental person I deliberately set outto see what happened when I copied my fellow passengers-I simply moved as little as thepeople sitting around me did-when the flight ended only their doctors or mortuary attendantwould have known how badly affected
they
were)To minimize the chances of this happening,see a physician before flying for advice on DeepVein Thrombosis prevention as it relates to your individual circumstances-and follow theiradvice
A major way of minimising swollen ankles and the threat of the DVT is to move
During the flight, there is always something stopping the exercises or the legs being moved;many people are self conscious about doing them when no one else is, or feel there is notenough room, or they can’t get out into the aisle to walk aroundWith the increased number of people on board, who may be attempting to shuffle around theaircraft accidents may happen if an unexpected descent occurs as happened onQantas QF72 accident Singapore-Perth October 2008 when 74 people were injured as the planedropped in altitude without warning-due to a computer fault which over rode the pilot controls-can anyone predict this?If they had been sitting strapped in their seats unless going to the toilet (except for the 10 cabincrew who have to do their work) the injury toll would have been much less than it wasWhatever the reason, not too many people move their legs enough and are placing themselvesin more danger of developing deep vein thrombosis than they otherwise would be if theymoved during the flight
Listen to the airlines and watch the videos on moving
All airlines (depending on who you are flying with) have some information on DVT and whatto do to reduce the chance of developing it-read their handouts and practise what they say onthe video and do not worry whether the person in the next seat is doing them or not-they maynot be worried about their healthIf you do not move your legs may finish up like mine did after my long flight-it took 2 weeksof inconvenience for my legs to revert to normal-and I was using my own recovery system-Light Manual Muscle Relaxation to do itWithout it, it may have taken twice as long for my body to repair the damage to my muscletissues
Move the legs and to make the calf muscle pump work by exercising the legs inthe seat space provided and you may prevent the problems I had
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...