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Leg recovery after a long flight

Recovering the legs after a long flight when the ankles are swollen like this can be a problem

These are my ankles after a long trip from Australia to Europe

You can do it thepassiveway-lying down with the legs elevated to let the fluid run back to thebody-this is usually the accepted way

Hopefully the fluid will leave the ankles and flow back down the legs to the body

It may take 3 or 4 days before the ankles have reduced in size to let the shoes fit so You CanWalk properly again-this is fine if you are staying with relatives for some time and you can waitfor it all to happen for you

Or you can do it the active way and help the fluid go back to the bodyBefore discussing this method lets talk about how this developed in the first place

When you boarded the aircraft at the embarkation point you were walking fine, and unless youhad a medical problem, the feet and ankles were not swollen and the shoes fitted wellSometime 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

Movement is the key to preventing both the ankles swelling and minimizing thechances of developing deep

The body is a column of fluid held in by the skin; it is made up of blood and water, which flowsthrough a series of vessels called veins and arteries that supply the muscle tissues with blood.Gravity affects the circulation by holding used blood in the lower legs and ankles, preventingfresh blood from reaching the feet-to remove the depleted blood from the legsWhen the 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; asit cannot be pumped away the fluid pools in the lower legs and the ankles swell.

The calf muscle pump

The calf muscles act as the motor for a pump to take it from the feet back to the body againstgravity through the venous system where it is re-nourished and recirculated-but to be workingthey have to move.

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Deep Vein Thrombosis

One of the problems with sitting down and not moving the legs is something called ‘economyclass syndrome’; this is clotting of the blood caused by slowing of the circulation of and thebalance of clotting agents and anti clotting agents being upset in favour of the clotting factor.These clots in the vein can be very dangerous because they may break away and lodgefurther up in the body causing a blockage of blood flow to the heart and this may result inserious illness or death.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 around-if they are in the window orcenter seat because the aisle seat person has taken sleeping pills and sleeping for the wholeof the flightWhatever the excuse not too many people move their legs enough and are placingthemselves in more danger of developing deep vein thrombosis than they otherwise would beif they moved during the flight

The same leg as the swollen ankle from the front-these are my legs-how close to DVT was I?(I actually knew all about it but being an experimental person I deliberately set out to see whathappened-I simply moved as much as the people sitting around me did-only their doctors or mortuaryattendant would have known how badly affected

they

were)

To minimize the chances of this happening,see a physician before flying for advice on DVT prevention as it relates to your individual circumstances-after that the one major approach thatanyone can take is to simply move the legs and to make the calf muscle pump work byexercising the legs in the seat space provided

The active way to help the legs recovery from a flight

If you can use your hands you have the tools to do the job of recovery

For more information go tohttp://www.aching-legs.org/the_airline_manual.html