A Personal Story – With A Warning For Almost Everyone

[I Like Thai]

The heart is not strong enough to pump blood in the legs back up to the body.

Leg muscles against the veins mimic the pumping action of the heart, therefore the leg muscles pump the blood instead of the heart.

When sitting for extended periods without using leg muscles, the blood in the legs has no way to circulate.

This can lead to clots forming in the veins. This causes DVT. It becomes very serious if a clot reaches the lungs.

[IrishIvan]

Ill take careful note of this, I thought it was only old people that got DVT. I am amazed that one poster was only 36 when he got it!

[David48]

Ill take careful note of this, I thought it was only old people that got DVT. I am amazed that one poster was only 36 when he got it!

In a way, this is the reason that I wanted to share my personal story. Because it can happen to anyone.

I'm not old or young.

I'm not fat or thin.

I'm reasonably fit, but not a marathon runner.

I'm not particularly hansom either ...

I'm Mr Average ... call me Joe.

But hours of inactivity starts the process.

The air-conditioning de-humidifies the air.

Blood pools in the lower legs.

Overnight flights the hosties are difficult to find, and, maybe if you are like me ... don't wish to disturb the sleeping passenger next to you to get up and exercise a bit.

• Hydrate
  
• Exercise
  
• Get up and around
  
• Consider the support socks
  

I'm surprised at the number of people who choose to take a sleeping tablet when they fly and wake up 6 - 8 hours later ... having immobilised themselves for that time. I can understand why ... but the dangers are there.

[weegee]

Hi mate, sounds like that FLT wasnt your good day....

Just tuned in to this thread...sorry you had a bad experience, get yourself right soon.

Take a few walks from Southport to Miami on the beach...that should help....hey?

[JLCrab]

I am lucky -- I am one of those fidgety persons who on the long haul flights stands in the back of the plane just about any time the fasten-seat-belt fasten sign is off. I don't watch the movie or read a book or play games. I drink copious amounts of water and other non-alcoholic drinks.

I book my infrequent flights these days well in advance so I can always book an aisle seat although circumstances are such that they may say it is now not available. Uh-Oh

Edited February 7, 2013 by JLCrab

[eek]

Sorry sorry David, and wish you well.

I suffer horribly from swollen calves when flying for long durations. I have to get up, stretch, massage and i even fo as far as doing yoga moves at the back of the plane.

I dont care if i look weird. I NEED to do it or i feel like my calves will explode. Takes days for them to feel supple again. THey just feel hard and painful.

I also drink copious amounts of water to stay hydrated.

Dread to think what state i would be in if i didnt walk around/stretch etc or drink water.

I see so many people who just sit in seemingly one position the whole duration of the flight, and i cant believe their bodies seem to be ok with it.

So so sorry for you..

THank you for posting this important message, and sorry had to be from personal experience.

[Thaddeus]

But Dave, I thought the mossies had already sucked most of the blood out of your legs

Seriously, best wishes for it to not happen again.

[chiang mai]

Sorry to hear that David, hope you get better soon - for me personally and anyone who has a stent, one of the very few side benefits of taking Plavix is that I couldn't get DVT even if I tried.

[Songhua]

Get well soon mate.

[topt]

Sorry to hear this - as I sit in the lounge waiting to fly on my third glass of wine............not sure if I will have another now!

Can someone tell me what the benefit of the socks is as usually now I never bother with them?

[David48]

Sorry to hear this - as I sit in the lounge waiting to fly on my third glass of wine............not sure if I will have another now!

Can someone tell me what the benefit of the socks is as usually now I never bother with them?

Mate ... not meant to scare you ... just raise the level of awareness.

From the NHS website

While you're travelling

If you are planning a long-distance plane, train or car journey, ensure that you:

• Wear loose, comfortable clothes.
  
• Consider buying flight socks (compression stockings).
  
• Store luggage overhead so you have room to stretch out your legs.
  
• Do anti-DVT exercises. Raise your heels, keeping your toes on the floor, then bring them down. Do this 10 times. Now raise and lower your toes 10 times. Do it at least every half an hour (you can do it more often if you like).
  
• Walk around whenever you can.
  
• Drink plenty of water.
  
• Don’t drink alcohol or take sleeping pills.
  
• 
  

EDITED to add ... have a read of this from the business traveller ... special-reports/pull-your-socks-up

Hope that answers your questions and helps generally?

.

Edited February 7, 2013 by David48

[MESmith]

I always book an aisle seat, & drink copious amounts of beer. Constantly up & down the aisles, nipping for a pee. I thought this condition was well advertised on board. I also keep exercising my feet, ankles & legs as much as possible in the confines of an economy seat.

[scorecard]

OMG! I thought they were just hypercautious with the DVT warnings on the flights. I must admit I didn't know anything about it. So sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope you feel better.

I used to also fly very frequently and never listened to the on board warnings, until a friend (fit guy, mid 30s) had to be carried off a flight home to Aust. from China, with DVT).

He was hospitalized for 2 weeks then daily massage treatments for a month and his doctor advised him not to fly for at least two years.

After that I always get up several times during every flight, walk aroud the plane each time, then sat down and do the exercises.

[Scully]

Sorry sorry David, and wish you well.

I suffer horribly from swollen calves when flying for long durations. I have to get up, stretch, massage and i even fo as far as doing yoga moves at the back of the plane.

I dont care if i look weird. I NEED to do it or i feel like my calves will explode. Takes days for them to feel supple again. THey just feel hard and painful.

I also drink copious amounts of water to stay hydrated.

Dread to think what state i would be in if i didnt walk around/stretch etc or drink water.

I see so many people who just sit in seemingly one position the whole duration of the flight, and i cant believe their bodies seem to be ok with it.

So so sorry for you..

THank you for posting this important message, and sorry had to be from personal experience.

Last time I flew to bangkok I too had swollen feet and calves, I visited Dr google and it is quite common. I avoid alchohol even if its free and was quite suprised at the size of my feet, I could only wear one pair of sandals after 4 days. Next time I will buy flying socks and maybe put some sexy stockings over them to be sure.

[jonnyscot]

Thanks for bringing to our attention David,, I fly about 11 hours to work every 5 weeks then spend most of my 12 hour shift at work sitting in a chair glued to various monitor screens with only a 30 minute daily walk on the helideck as the only form of exercise, time methinks to start wearing them godawful socks and exercise more than I'm doing now, although I was planning in investing in a mountain bike on my return to LOS,,

wish you a speedy recovery

[lovelaos]

I have always ignored the warnings too. Thanks for posting this reminder. I will buy some of those socks for my next flight. Hope you get better soon.

[richard_smith237]

Slightly off topic - The Compression socks (also known as flight socks) come in varying quality. But, I have found the recovery in the legs from sports (i.e. football) much quicker when wearing decent compression socks. I suspect that this is because the capillaries are compressed preventing a build up of lactic acid.

When out on the sauce and standing for long periods of time I also wear the compression socks. They have more use than just for flying / travelling.

I wear them to sleep in sometimes if I've had a particularly busy day on my feet - they help to take away the dull muscular ache of a busy day or active sport.

A few posters have mentioned 'swollen ankles'... I suspect the socks may also help with this.

Apologies for going slightly off topic...

[richard_smith237]

I'm surprised at the number of people who choose to take a sleeping tablet when they fly and wake up 6 - 8 hours later ... having immobilised themselves for that time. I can understand why ... but the dangers are there.

Thats a good point. I am one of those people who pop a Xanax after getting on the flight and sleep most of the way. After injecting myself with Heparin and laying flat in business class I figured there was no more risk than lying in a bed at home... I'll have to revisit this and re-evaluate the risk...

[Dancealot]

On a 12 hour haul 2 years ago i woke up 8 hours later after taking 2 sleeping pills finding out my entire left leg was idle and swollen up.

A doctor was on the plane and explained this was due staying too long in a cramped position... Aha! The last leg of the flight i was in business class with my leg up on ice slowly recovering.

How about that for an upgrade. Is this similar to your story David?

How are you doing now?

[Dancealot]

After reading this shocking story i (36 year old) consider myself lucky that i only had to recuperate for 12 hours..

[David48]

I'm surprised at the number of people who choose to take a sleeping tablet when they fly and wake up 6 - 8 hours later ... having immobilised themselves for that time. I can understand why ... but the dangers are there.

Thats a good point. I am one of those people who pop a Xanax after getting on the flight and sleep most of the way. After injecting myself with Heparin and laying flat in business class I figured there was no more risk than lying in a bed at home... I'll have to revisit this and re-evaluate the risk...

The advice that I was given that, while sleeping flat, while I am recovering, no need to wear the compression stocking/sock. I presume that is because the leg and heart are roughly in the same position and the pumping effort to circulate the blood is a lot less.

So, if you are one of the lucky ones and get to lie flat while flying, maybe no need to take the extra precaution.

But I'm not Dr David ...

[David48]

What's a DVT look like ... ?

If you catch it early ... like I did, not much difference between the size of the legs.

But if it takes a hold on you ...

Again ... would like to stress ... you don't feel it start to happen ... at the time I felt nothing.

I was in a premium economy seat (they named it Business Class ... hah!) ... lot's of leg room, but it was a night time flight, I was comfortable, took an asprin to thin my blood and only had 1 beer.

Legs weren’t bent ... just relaxed ... but I didn't move my legs.

Move it or lose it!

For me, a week later, just a pain in my lower leg, sort of like a 'headache' in your leg.

Then a warmth difference between the two legs. A little swelling, but just perceivable.

.

[Dancealot]

It is very perceivable to me..

[David48]

It is very perceivable to me..

Luckily ... it's not a photo of my legs ... I'm much more handsom then that ... ... but the guy in the photo has it bad.

Currently I am wearing one of these ...

Under jeans and in a pair of shoes ... you would never know.

The compression stockings are what you wear after you have a DVT.

Must stress though that they are not 'flight socks'.

Flight socks look much sharper ...

The smart guys wear these before they get a DVT

[Dancealot]

Ooohw...

It is a Manty! -- there goes your sense of fashion .

The pantyhose for the man..

Edited February 7, 2013 by Dancealot

[wamberal]

My wife and I normally take quite a lot of exercise as part of our daily routine. However, we are particularly careful about doing as much exercise as we can before we take a flight, plus we walk everywhere in the terminals if possible, avoiding moving walkways etc, and on the plane we get up and walk regularly. We do not drink as much as we used to on the flight, either.

My best friend had a pretty bad dose of DVT a few years ago, he finally went to see his GP because he felt so crook, and he was told that he was only a few hours away from death. That kind of acts as a pretty good incentive to be sensible, and follow the best available advice.

[sutton1001]

I've flown often always drank lots of beer, wine whatever and taken sleeping tablets! I'm 36 flew out from uk to Thailand 31st dec and flew back last week. Thing is I've never had swollen feet, ever but on my out to bkk when I arrived my legs and angles were really swollen!

I never had a problem on my return but hey I've been back less than a week.

This topic has been a bit of an eye opener and I will take note. Time to start looking after ones self!

So ill be buying some flight socks/stokings whatever and moving around drinking less alcohol in April when I return!

Thanks for the heads up David48 and I wish you a speedy recovery!!

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[ignis]

Ooohw...

It is a Manty! -- there goes your sense of fashion .

The pantyhose for the man..

Makes no difference to me what there called, always wear them on travel.

Like bottom picture I have 5 pairs [ 2 black, 2 grey and a bright blue pair] blue one normally wear if I need to in bed... I was 28 or 29 when I got DVT after a flight back to UK from west Canada, done the trip many times and to USA without a thought.. that is well over 30 years ago !!

Now a day can get very swollen feet, legs and ankles just sitting at PC, normally a walk to end of Village and back will help, if not then on go the elastic stockings, I often sleep with 1 pillow under my legs and 2 under my feet

​Would sleep with/in an adjustable bed, but here cost 112.000 baht and don't look that good or strong.

[Mosha]

Sorry to hear that David, I hope you are feeling better PDQ.

[seasia]

Thank You for posting and Get Well soon. Good warning post,

Years ago I used to wear the flight socks when travelling from LON - HK, non stop, also used to walk around a bit on the plane.

I then discarded the socks, didn`t feel comfortable and have a tendency to take sleeping pills for long haul flights.

Time for a re think based on your experience.

Thanks again.