Travelers and Poor Blood Circulation

by Stephanie Gibbs

Is there a simple solution to a very serious medical problem? For many travelers, the answer is maybe. If travelers would take the necessary steps, it could help prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). The main reason they don't is because not everybody knows what DVT is, and they do not know what to do that might help prevent it. If they have some knowledge about DVT, they probably have the attitude that "It can't happen to me."

“ don't plant yourself in the seat sit there for several hours in the same position without moving ”

Let's start with the basics. Poor Blood Circulation is a lack of blood flow to the organs and muscles in the body. Blood is what carries the oxygen and nutrients to all organs and muscles in your body. We need both to survive and function. Also, blood is suppose to cleanse the body from the carbon dioxide and the wastes produced. Poor blood circulation means a shortage of delivery of oxygen and nutrients throughout your body and a highly ineffective cleansing process.

It indicates on the Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) website that: "Deep Vein Thrombosis, or DVT is a blood clot that can form in your legs and sometimes move to your lungs, where it could be fatal."..."DVT is a condition resulting from the formation of a blood clot (thrombus) inside a deep vein, commonly located in the calf or thigh.

DVT occurs when the blood clot either partially or completely blocks the flow of blood in the vein. Complications from DVT kill up to 200,000 people a year in the United States which is more than AIDS and breast cancer combined!"

Also on the DVT website there is a special warning specifically for Travelers. It states:

"Prolonged sitting during air travels slows down circulation and increases the blood's propensity to clot. In addition, tightly packed seating and long periods of immobility can contribute to an increased risk of DVT.

Even in young, healthy travelers, long stretches of time spent in cramped seats of an aircraft with very low humidity may set the stage for the formation of a blood clot in the lower leg."

When you are traveling in a car, it is pretty easy to just stop regularly at the Rest Stops to get out, stretch, walk or run for a while. Trains and buses usually have a little more individual space to move around than on commercial airlines where most people fly coach. That is why it is sometimes referred to as "economy class syndrome" which is misleading terminology because it implies that people who fly in first class with a little more leg room do not have anything to worry about.

That is not true. Conditions in an airplane make the risk of DVT greater than in cars, trains and buses because a thrombus (blood clot) is more likely to happen in a condition when blood is thick. This is the side effect of the thin air inside the aircraft cabin.

But whatever your choice of transportation, do not just "plant" yourself in the seat and then sit there for several hours in the same position without moving at all. The exact cause of DVT is not very clear, but prolonged immobility and dehydration can increase the risk.

Eventhough you may be squeezed in and confined in very tight area you need to do the best that you can, as much as you can, for as long as you can, to keep your blood circulating.

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