Tips To Avoid Cankles
When flying, most people are conscious of the effects that jet lag and limited mobility has upon your physical well-being. However, much less is known about the negative impact of cabin pressure upon your body. Its impact is deeper than we realize and therefore, important to know how to implement preventative air travel health measures.
Insufficient compression and circulation in-flight is common. Depending on your health condition when flying, it can result in mild soreness to more serious health risks.
“We humans need air to live, so we do best around sea level. Airplanes are at their best up high, where the air is thin and smooth. And therein lies the rub: We invented a machine that thrives where we don’t.” [1]. In order for airlines to fly faster at a reduced fuel costs, they are slightly adjusting the cabin pressure, which intern puts strain upon our body. Other factors include our general state of health, length of travel and what we do before, during and after the flight. It’s hard to find this evidence, but it’s certainly there. Better air pressure would be gentler on the body, but it would cost us more on fuel to maintain.
Sitting long hours with limited movement alone can cause circulation difficulties, strain on the blood flow to the heart and lower back, and have the veins swell. Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), serious blood clotting traveling from the leg or hip heart, is probably the most common health risk while traveling. Then add to this the strain of flight decompression and you get a lot more strain than you can imagine in blood restriction and muscle tension. Even athletes can get “cankle,” a urban slang term for a condition where your lower leg between calf and the ankle seems to blend together without distinction.
Here are some tips to help you avoid cankles.
