Health advices for air travel

Health advices for air travel In present environment, passengers prefer to travel by air as it is fast, convenient and safe. However, the aircraft environment and travel-related factors can cause certain pressures on travellers.Travellers must follow beneficial air travel guidelines and general health information for pleasant journey.

Some guidelines for air travellers are as under

  • It is recommended for passengers to plan ahead.
  • They must research the health-related conditions in the country they are planning to visit.
  • While going for tour in other countries, people must be vaccinated.
  • Air travellers must plan in such a way that they have enough time to check in and reach their departure gate.
  • They must carry medication with carry-on luggage.
  • For air travel, travellers are suggested to wear loose and comfortable attire and foot wear that have beenused by them previously.
  • Before travelling by air, passengers must seek the advice of their physician.

Though most of the airlines take care about safety and comfort of travellers but travellers must follow some general travel tips to make a journey pleasant.

1. People in air travel may experience motion sickness. Unfortunately, instability is sometimes unavoidable and passengers may experience nausea that comes with motion sickness. To cope up with this problem, they must follow simple things.

  • Avoid a late evening with spicy food and alcoholic beverages the previous day.
  • They can request for a seat in middle section of the aircraft.
  • Do not consume alcoholic beverages on the day of the flight.
  • Take a light dry snack like biscuits or toast, 2 hours prior to the flight and take a light meal on-board.
  • Travellers must have plenty of water and juices.

If people feel nausea, open the air vents, keep their head still, lie back with seat in the reclining position, close their eyes and try to relax.

Use the airsickness bag well in time

Use the airsickness bag well in time It is strongly recommended to consult physician before flight and take medication as advised.

People should not experiment with self-medication.

2. Anxiety of flying: Sometimes, travellers might have a little apprehension if they are taking first time flight, but it is for information that from over a century, manned flight have madeextremely safe. They can follow some of the following tips:

  1. Adjust seat in a reclining position after clearance from the cabin crew.
  2. Close eyes, imagine a pleasant environment, concentrate on relaxing every part of the body and feel the tension drain away.
  3. Breathe in, count to three and breathe out counting to three, for 10 - 15 minutes.

3. Changes in cabin pressure can cause some problems. Even in a pressurized aircraft, minor changes in cabin pressure may happen during take-off and landing which results in minoruneasiness, especially in the ears. The chances of ear problems are more when people have cold or a respiratory infection. Discomfort caused by cabin pressure can be avoided by equalizing the pressure in ear. Travellers with such problems can follow simple tips mentioned below:

  1. Start chewing sweet candy which can be obtained from crew.
  2. Yawn, swallow saliva, and perform side-to-side movements of the jaw.
  3. Stay awake during take-off and landing.
  4. Children must take fluids to drink or sweets to chew on and infants and toddlers could benefit from use of pacifiers / milk bottles.
  5. Try blowing out keeping nose and mouth shut. This helps particularly during descent.

Food and drinks:

In cabin, people are recommended to avoid heavy meals and over-indulgence in alcohol.

Drink plenty of fluids, especially water and fresh juices. Try and avoid drinking too much tea, coffee or aerated waters as these cause dehydration.

Aircraft medical kits:

Use the airsickness bag well in time The contents and specifications of the first aid and physician’s kits carried on board the aircraft are laid down by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and cannot be modified without their approval. Guests are requested to carry all medication that they may require in their hand luggage.

Some Packing guidelines for Air Travel: Passengers normally experience long lines for check-in and security, checked baggage fees and cramped seating. Some of the thing are unavoidable but with proper packing, travellers can reduce or eliminate baggage fees and ensure that their luggage arrives along with them at destination.

It is advised to pack liquids in carry-on baggage in an easily accessible location to make it easy to remove them for inspection.

Passenger must be prepared to remove their laptop from its bag for screening.

For safe travel, boarders or passengers are advised to follow above tips.

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