How Flying Can Affect Your Health
Key Takeaways
Discuss any health concerns with your doctor before flying.
Flights can cause ear popping and stress - prepare for minor annoyances.
Plan ahead and manage stress to make your flight smoother.
Germs are present on airplanes, so wash your hands frequently.
Crossing time zones disrupts sleep - stay hydrated to ease jet lag.
Flying and Your Health
Flying is the preferred method of travel for millions of people around the globe, especially when traveling long distances. Obviously, some trips require flying, especially if you want to get to your destination in a timely manner.
However, many people don’t understand the effect that flying can have on their health, including some dangerous problems that flying can create.
Whether you’re a frequent flyer or you’re gearing up for your first takeoff, it’s a good idea to understand how flying can affect your health.
Does Flying Dehydrate You?
Most people don’t think about the risk of dehydration when flying, but if you’ve ever noticed that you suddenly feel thirsty when you’re on a plane, it’s not just your mind playing tricks on you.
Dr. Matthew Goldman of the Cleveland Clinic explains that one of the primary reasons for dehydration while flying relates directly to the altitude at which planes fly.
Obviously, when you get on a plane, you’re tens of thousands of feet above the ground, and with that higher altitude, comes dryer air. There simply isn’t as much humidity at higher altitudes, which is something that you can experience without going into the air.
If you climb to the top of a high mountain, you’ll notice that the air is harder to breathe and dryer. While many people think of humidity as a bad thing, since it leaves them feeling sweaty and “sticky,” some humidity is necessary.
This low humidity level found at high altitudes impacts the air on the plane. Dr. Goldman explains that roughly 50% of the air inside the pressurized cabin is pulled in from the outside. This is why you notice thirst, dry eyes, and even itchy skin when you’re on a flight.
Obviously, the most effective way to combat dehydration is to hydrate before and even during your flight. While it’s often tempting to visit an airport bar or lounge to have a drink that calms your nerves, alcohol actually dehydrates you.
Consider avoiding the bar before your flight. Also, you can pack an empty, refillable water bottle with you that you can refill after you pass through security. This allows you to avoid those tiny bottles of water that you can get from the beverage cart.
Depending on the length of your flight, you can also start hydrating before you get on the plane.
For instance, if you’re flying internationally, make sure that you hydrate well the day before you’re set to depart.
The Risk of Blood Clots
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), traveling for more than four hours, whether it’s by car, plane, train, or bus, increases your chances of forming a blood clot, particularly in deep veins, like those found in your legs. The medical term for this is Deep Vein Thrombosis, also referred to as DVT.
Blood clots are certainly not to be taken lightly, which means it’s important to understand other factors that can make flying, especially for more than four hours, even more dangerous.
Some of those extenuating factors include:
• Obesity • Pregnancy • History of blood clots • Having undergone surgery in the previous three months • Being older than 40 • Varicose veins • Active or past cancer
If you have any of these factors, it’s a good idea to discuss flying with your doctor before making travel arrangements.
Due to the length of many flights, people who deal with blood clots need to make alternative travel plans that allow them to make frequent stops so they can move around.
Why Do Your Ears Pop?
If you’ve ever been on an airplane, you’ve probably noticed the popping that you hear and feel in your ears, especially when the plane reaches its highest altitude. This sensation relates to the pressure changes that occur in the cabin between the runway and the air.
Your inner ears are directly tied to your balance, which explains why many flyers feel a sense of dizziness, even when they’re sitting in their seats. Your inner ear has tissue and a set of eustachian tubes that directly impact your balance.
When the pressure around you changes, you’ll likely hear and feel popping when the area around those tubes becomes stressed by the changes.
Fortunately, this ear-popping is one of the least dangerous health-related issues that people face while flying.
Simple tips on how to pop your ears include swallowing or yawning during takeoff and before landing should help you avoid any of the pain that comes with the stress placed on the inner ear.
Dealing With the Stress
When thinking about the health effects of flying, it’s easy to focus on lack of movement and dehydration. However, one of the most dangerous aspects of flying comes from the stress associated with it.
Think about how stressful it is as you wait in slow-moving lines at the ticket counter, rush from one terminal to the next, and hope that you don’t miss your flight.
When you think of the security process, baggage claims, and other aspects of flying, it’s easy to see how stressful the process can be.
The negative health consequences of stress are well-documented. Stress results in high blood pressure, nausea, irritation, and a number of other symptoms that impact your physical and mental health.
One of the best ways to avoid stress is to make sure that you’re well-prepared before you even get to the airport.
Try to show up well before your flight is scheduled to leave and make sure that you have your boarding pass, ticket, and everything else that you’ll need before you get there.
Increased Blood Pressure
According to a 2021 study, stress isn’t the only aspect of flying that raises your blood pressure.
Researchers have discovered that the increase in altitude and the pressure changes that happen around you also have the potential to impact cardiac function, resulting in increased blood pressure.
When the pressure changes, some flyers experience contracted cardiovascular muscles, increased heart rate, and a change in how much blood the heart is able to pump.
If you have hypertension, COPD, or any type of heart disease, you’re significantly more likely to experience an increase in blood pressure when flying.
Flying Means Germ Exposure
Even though airlines make sure that they’re circulating air throughout the cabin during the flight, there’s simply no avoiding the fact that if you’re locked in a large metal tube with dozens of other travelers, you’re going to be exposed to airplane germs.
In addition to the circulation systems, most planes also have high-tech filtering systems that remove a majority of the germs floating through the air, but there’s simply no way to remove them all. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to try to avoid flying if you’re immunocompromised.
Additionally, you can take steps before your flight to protect yourself.
Make sure that you’re up to date on your flu shot, pneumonia shot, and other important vaccines. It’s also a good idea to carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer with you and make sure that you’re regularly washing your hands.
This is another tip that you can implement before you actually board your flight. In addition to the dozens of people on the plane, there are thousands of people in the airport every day.
Taking steps to protect yourself from the germs that you encounter can significantly reduce your risk of getting sick.
Is Jet Lag a Health Problem?
Even if you’ve never experienced yourself, you’ve probably heard of jet lag.
While you may not deal with it, at least as much, if you’re on a short, two-hour flight, that feeling of fatigue at the end of a long flight, especially those that cross time zones, also relates to the pressure changes of the flight and your body’s circadian rhythms.
First, let’s look at what happens when you leave one time zone and land in another. The human body is naturally wired to base its sleep patterns on light exposure.
If you leave one place where it usually starts getting dark around 8 PM and land in a place that’s three hours behind, you’ll still feel fatigued even though it’s only 5 PM where you’re visiting. It takes the body time to adjust its circadian rhythm.
The pressure changes that take place in an airplane also contribute to the feeling of jetlag. As we mentioned earlier, the heart often has to work harder to pump blood when cabin pressure reduces.
Additionally, the dehydration that we discussed earlier can also lead to the feeling of fatigue, even when the flight is over.
The best way to combat jetlag is to stay hydrated. While there’s no quick way to reset your body’s natural sleep patterns and circadian rhythms, ample hydration helps keep all of your body’s systems working at their best.
Flying has certainly revolutionized travel, as it’s now possible to get virtually anywhere in the world within a day. However, it’s important to understand the potential health effects of flying so you can protect yourself and get the most out of your trip. Happy travels!