http://www.aching-legs.org/auto_passenger_leg_survival.html

The auto passenger recovery system-let your legs survive the drive

Sitting in the passenger seat in the car and being driven everywhere by your very own personaldrive may be many people’s ideal because someone else usually pays for the petrol/gas,maintenance, you do not suffer from road rage, or have to be bothered too much about anyaccidents-the responsibility for getting you there rests with someone elseFor that though, there can be a price to pay for all this-being someone else’s responsibility meansthey get the say on long trips on where and when the stops are takenSpeaking for myself as a driver rather than passenger, even though you know should stop for a restand freshening walk after 2 hours or so, it is very difficult when you are on the road to physicallypull into a rest area unless you absolutely have toBut if you don’t you can not only put your own life at risk from crashing from driver fatigue butyou can also put your passengers life at risk from developing a deep vein thrombosis if driving formore than 3 hours without giving them chance to get out and exercise the legsI didn’t move enough and was lucky that I didn’t finish up in hospital or deadThe first problem I had was on the long flight from Australia to Europe-there is a little problemcalled DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS that is linked to long haul flights-sorry guys it just does not justaffect us older people-there is no age gap as far as this is concerned (these are my legs by the way-Iwas experimenting and copying the habits of most people around me on the flight)It also does not differentiate between being on an aircraft or in an automobile-to deep veinthrombosis they are all the same-and they are caused by not moving the legs enough to make thepart of the circulation system called the calf muscle pump work at removing used blood and fluidfrom the lower legs and ankles back up to the body againA minor but inconvenient problem this causes is swollen anklesSwollen ankles

So how can these problems be avoided and letting your legs survive the trip?

http://www.aching-legs.org/auto_passenger_leg_survival.html

2Simply by having plenty of breaks from driving and getting the legs moving or for the passengerhaving some constructive movement to do during the trip instead of just sitting inactive-you shouldactivate the calf muscle pump

The Calf muscle Pump

The job of returning used blood back up the legs for re-nourishment and recycling is carried out bya pumping system formed by the muscles in the legs, but the main power for this is supplied by thecalf muscles as they move, putting pressure on and taking it off the vessels called the veinsThe veins have one-way valves in them which open as the blood passes through them, and closes tostop it going back down to the feet again-in this way, as used blood leaves the legs, and fresh bloodreplaces it-to maintain the balance between them, a similar volume of used blood should leave thelegs as enters themThe first thing is to have a small understanding of the legs circulation system

Fresh legs-healthy calf circulation

To keep the lower leg circulation working and the calf muscles fresh, the muscles rely on having aconstant supply of fresh blood to the muscle tissues-it is sent to the lower legs under pressurethrough the arteries and ever decreasing in size vessels called arterioles and even smaller capillarieswhile at the same time the pressure taking it there also decreasesBy the time the blood reaches the feet, all the pressure has been used, and there is none left to returnthe blood back up the legs to the body against gravity again where it is renourished and recycledback out to the extremities of the body again

Bloodpumped fromheart througharteriesunder

Reaches feetPressure runsout

Calf musclesact as pumpmotorsUsed bloodmoved up thelegs throughthe veinsOn return tobody it isrenourishedand recycled

http://www.aching-legs.org/auto_passenger_leg_survival.html

Calf Muscle Fatigue

If the muscles are tight, or the legs are not moved, the pump does not work as well as it should-thisdisrupts the cycle and allows used blood to remain in the lower legs-as it its not being removed,water (lymph fluid) separates from it and fills the tissue spaces, as it is not being pumped awayquickly enough, the ankles swellThe calf muscles start to move even less, and the less they move, the less used blood and fluid isremoved from the lower legs, and the flow of fresh blood into them is reduced even more-so theyfatigueAs the legs start to fill up with fluid, they get heavy and wearing shoes that fit properly and providestability becomes harder to do, so many people resort to wearing thongs which provide no stabilityat all for the legs and feet, and makes the wearer develop a shuffling gait when they walk simply tokeep them on-which reduces the movement even more!Many people just elevate the legs to allow the used fluid to drain back to the body again but notmany people have the time to do this-the last thing they need when away from home is problem legs

Just resting is not the answer to recovering the legs

Calf MuscleFatiueTightcalf

muscles

PoorbloodreturnFreshbloodreduced