Top 10 Tips for Healthy Travel
Staying healthy while traveling can help to ensure your trip overseas is a happy and enjoyable one. It is important to focus on your health and well-being when traveling.
1. Pay less attention to the details
Just because you travel frequently, don’t become blase about the details. Always make sure you have adequate travel insurance, so if something goes wrong you are not also nursing a huge medical bill.
2. Look to the clock
Remember, the most stressful part of traveling is the time spent at the airport. Make sure your itinerary allows you to arrive in plenty of time for your flight, so you do not have to rush.
3. Do not worry about breathing aircraft air Do not worry about breathing the same air as the hundreds of other people sitting on an aircraft with you. Air on planes is cleaned using the same filters as are used in hospital operating theaters. However, it is important to be scrupulous about washing your hands frequently, because many people will be touching the same things as you.
4. Increase blood circulation
The risk of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) - blood clots that form in the legs and can then travel around the body to cause a heart attack - increases with long periods of immobility, whether that is sitting on a plane or on a bus. Compression socks can help, but make sure they are properly fitted; if they are too tight, they can cut off circulation.
5. Don’t take aspirin
Taking aspirin to prevent DVT can do more harm than good: it does not help to dissolve this kind of blood clot and can actually cause gastric bleeding.
6. Take moisturizer, eye-drops and lip balm with you
The air on aircraft is very dry, so make sure you take moisturizer, eye-drops and lip balm with you. Apply them before getting on the plane so you have a protective layer in place.
7. Take a short-acting hypnotic
Taking a short-acting hypnotic, such as temazepam, for a few days will help you to sleep and to adjust to a new time zone.
8. Sleep well
When you travel, try to get as much sleep as you would in a 24-hour period back at home, even if this means taking naps to catch up. If you do nap, try to sleep for either less than 45 minutes or more than two hours. Sleeping for less than 45 minutes will mean you don’t feel groggy when you wake-up, while two hours gives you some refreshing deep sleep.
9. Get some exercise
Try to get some exercise while you are away, but don’t force yourself if you are too tired. A brisk walk or a swim are the gentlest forms of exercise.
10. Adjust your body clock
If you are traveling west make sure you get some evening sun, if east then some morning sunshine – it will help your body clock to adjust.
By Professor Bagshaw
