During Your Trip

Take a few simple steps while you fly and you're a lot more likely to arrive at your destination rested, healthy, and ready to enjoy your stay.

Motion Sickness

Occasionally, some passengers experience motion (air) sickness when flying. Symptoms include deep rapid breathing with cold sweats, yawning, salivation, pale skin, sudden drowsiness, nausea, and vomiting—none of which is very much fun.

Here are some steps you can take to minimize motion sickness:

• Avoid reading during the flight.
• Avoid alcohol 24 hours before the flight and while you're flying.
• Keep your seat belt securely fastened while seated.
• Open the air vents to full and focus on the horizon or a fixed point several feet away.
• Locate air-sickness bags in the seat pocket in front of you, so you can grab them quickly if you need them.

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Jet Lag

You can get jet lag when you travel over multiple time zones, and especially when you're flying east. Symptoms can include tiredness during the day, loss of appetite, irritability, insomnia, restlessness, stomach and bowel distress, and increased sensitivity to light and sound.

It can take your body up to 24 hours to adjust for each time zone you cross in your travels. If you will be at your destination for 48 hours or less, consider staying on your home cycle.

Here are some suggestions for minimizing the effects of jet lag:

• Get enough rest before you fly.
• If your schedule permits, try to adjust your sleeping and eating times an hour or two towards your destination (East forward, West backward) in the days before your flight.
• After takeoff, adjust your watch. Try to sleep and eat according to the time of your destination.
• Drink water and juices and avoid caffeine and alcohol to stay hydrated. Dehydration can make jet lag worse.
• Avoid caffeine 4-6 hours before bedtime so you have a better chance of sleeping soundly.
• Try to schedule outdoor activities for the first few days at the new destination. Spending time in the daylight can help you adjust more quickly.
• Once you arrive, try adjusting to the destination time as soon as possible.
• As hard as it may be, try to limit yourself to a single nap of 30-40 minutes or less. Go to bed and wake up at the appropriate hour for the new time zone.

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Healthy Travel with Children

Traveling with children can be a positive experience for you, your kids—and even those sitting around you—as long as you're prepared.

Here are a few simple steps you can take:

• Begin a routine or schedule around sleep time on the airplane.
• Air travel can be painful to kids' ears. To counteract ear pain:
• Offer a bottle, pacifier or lollipop to encourage swallowing.
• Use decongestant nose drops one-half hour before takeoff and landing if child is recovering from a cold.
• Use a calm, reassuring voice to help children feel less anxious.
• Young children are the most susceptible to motion sickness. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, loss of color, and cold sweats. To help kids avoid motion sickness:
• Avoid full meals for 2 hours prior to flight.
• Offer easily digestible foods while flying (bread, juice, water, canned fruit).
• Discourage reading and coloring. Travel games, action figures and looking out the window will be better diversions.
• Ask your travel medicine specialist, physician, or pediatrician about preventive medications, especially if your child is prone to motion sickness.

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Altitude & Air Quality

Commercial aircraft cabins are pressurized to up to 8,000 feet above sea level. For most healthy people the body easily compensates for this condition.

Oxygen

Increased cabin pressure means your body absorbs less oxygen. If you have a history of heart, lung, or blood conditions, you may want to consult your physician before you travel to see if supplemental oxygen, special medical equipment, and boarding assistance might be needed.

Reduced oxygen, combined with inactivity and sleep, can result in dizziness or fainting when you stand up too quickly. To prevent this, flex, stretch, and pump your arms and legs before you stand up. When you do stand up, do so slowly, and hold on to something while you do it. Try to walk around the cabin if conditions permit.

Colds or Allergies

Your body contains small pockets of air, like those within the inner ear and sinuses. These pockets of air can equalize with outside air during ascent through tubes that connect them to the outside world. However, if these tubes become blocked by colds or allergies, you may experience pain on descent. You can prevent these problems by swallowing, chewing, or yawning on descent (all of which are easier to do when you're not asleep). Children can benefit from drinking fluids during descent, and toddlers can benefit from sucking on a pacifier.

If you have an ear, nose, or sinus infection, try to avoid flying until your condition clears. Otherwise, you could experience ear or sinus blockage, which, in worst-case scenarios, can result in pain, infection, bleeding, or even a rupture of the eardrum.

Since illnesses can often spread from person to person, try to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, and remember to wash your hands.

Air Quality

The air you breathe in the airplane cabin is 50% fresh from outside the aircraft and 50% recycled. This re-circulated air is drawn through High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters prior to returning to the cabin. This system results in a total air exchange within 2-3 minutes (20-30 times each hour). This is more frequent than in homes, office buildings, and buses, and maintains a low level of contaminants.

Cabin air quality consistently measures within the acceptable range for ozone, CO, CO2, volatile organic compounds (solvents), airborne particulates, and microorganisms (bacteria and viruses).

The use of outside air results in humidity levels of less than 20%. The mild discomfort that may be caused by low humidity can be prevented by drinking reasonable amounts of water and juice (8 ounces for each hour of flight), avoiding alcohol and caffeine, wearing eyeglasses (instead of contacts), and using skin moisturizer.

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Cabin Noise

With sound-absorbent cabin walls, partitions and seats, the noise level in commercial aircraft has decreased dramatically over the past years. While earplugs are not necessary, you may wish to bring a pair with you to help you further relax.

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Deep Vein Thrombosis

For some people, prolonged periods of immobility may increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis blood clots forming in the legs. Although the causes are not yet fully understood, the condition is not confined to air travel and has been found in all forms of travel as well as non-travel situations such as theater seating. Deep vein thrombosis can cause pain and swelling in the legs both in-flight and for several days or weeks following travel. While these clots are not serious in and of themselves, if they break off and float to the lungs, they could result in a lethal pulmonary embolism.

Here are a few simple tips that can increase your comfort and your ability to move around:

• Wear loose clothing and avoid tight, restrictive garments.
• Place as little as possible under the seat in front of you so you can stretch and periodically exercise your feet and ankles.
• Drink water and juice, and minimize alcohol and caffeine to avoid dehydration.
• Walk about the cabin every 60-90 minutes if flight conditions permit.
• Consult your physician if you have health-related concerns about travel, particularly if you have underlying illnesses such as coronary artery disease, cancer, or a blood clotting disorder.