Well-being ON AIR 🚨
I have travelled in domestic airplanes many times and very few International tours. I always wanted to jot down on air travel wellbeing and keeping that quality healthy status post travel too.
Recently I travelled to Andaman and was around half centurieth air travel. The astonishing part of this journey was the accompaniment of a person who had done angiogram with stenting just ten days previous to the day of departure. This is indeed a wonder of medical modernism, where mobilisation and rehabilitation is recommended after surgeries as early as possible, rather than long days of rest.
I want to provide some tips to keep oneself healthy and have a quality travel in airplanes without fear and let down. As to the procedural part, keep the air tickets and identification document ready beforehand, complete the web check in, if possible and apply the air travel insurance for secure journeys.
Starting with the bag packing; take only essential items for short journey and lessen the number of items as far as possible for long journeys. Organise the bags with proper folding and space consumption, arrange the items as early use more superficially kept and also keep the items to be taken in carry bag separately. If there is only carry bag, ensure that the items to be separately shown during security check are kept in a separate small bag inside the carry bag, for example electronic items, metallic items and so on. It is essential to pack few over- the-counter medicines for pain, vomiting, injury, other than the regular medicines, after consulting a doctor, if medically not well versed. It is important to weigh the bags and titre according to the weight criteria of the aircraft or airlines. Ensure you have kept the ticket, digital boarding pass if any and identification card in an accessible part of the bag and make sure it is in place just before the journey to the airport starts.
These measures mentioned above if taken correctly, then, entry inside the airport, check in procedure including security check will be hassle free.
Always try to be attentive to the announcements. The usual announcements include Gate number for boarding, ready to board, seat numbers to wait in queue for final boarding pass check and sometimes if you have missed the announcements during washroom use, eating meals or shopping, your name will be called out for reporting and boarding.
If you are more of an observer than a listener, check the sign boards and aircraft detailed boards for gate number, time to board, departure time, information on whether departure is delayed or not, destination, arrival and more details. It is always better to be near your aircraft gate, 20-30 minutes prior to departure time to avoid confusion and hurry in the last few minutes. In the same manner, follow the instructions of the pilot and flight assistants strictly. When we hear the same instructions repetitively, we are in subconscious state. But hear them consciously atleast for departing journey for refreshing your memory. The evacuation plan, the safety measures and evacuation measures will become a part of your permanent memory afterwards. Atleast once, try taking out the life jacket and understand the way to wear it quickly without damaging it. These are some ways for a stress free flying experience.
Next elaboration is on the personal wellbeing while travelling and after travel. Keeping oneself warm is the most important aspect, where the airport, connecting bus, aircraft everything is air- conditioned. If not jacket or sweater, a shawl or a thick clothing would suffice. If there are symptoms of impending illness, have warm water sips frequently while waiting for boarding and also while in the aircraft. Keep the air vent inside the aircraft closed or away, so that the flow does not directly hit your illness invoking, sensitive areas like nose, neck, ears. Do not hesitate to ask for warm water to the air hostess, if you get the feeling of cold, chills or shivers.
While take off, negative pressure develops in the inside part of the tympanic membrane in our ear and methods like sipping water, swallowing saliva, yawning, help in reducing pain if any and also balance the air pressure on both side of tympanic membrane. If feeling nauseous, take slow and deep breaths to improve oxygenation of lung and blood circulation, close the eyes or bend the neck and body forward, leaning, in order to improve blood circulation. If you feel the symptom is out of your control, it is better to ask for assistance. It is better to consume medication beforehand for those having motion sickness.
While landing, usually the pain is more in the ears. The landing is usually in phases, with heights covered and lowered slowly. So, the pain may last for prolonged time too. The air pressure outside the ear canal increases. A mix of flight take off measures, closing the ear canal with a cotton ball and closing the nose and mouth and try to blow out air in the closed position, helps in managing the effect of landing air pressure variation on the sensitive ear. Remember that the air pressure outside us in the aircraft cabin is higher and pressing on us from all sides. Sometimes there will be sweating, headache and dizziness; and it's better to remove thick clothes, jackets and sweaters. Hydrating yourself 30 minutes before the landing with one glass of water ( around 250ml ) will be helpful.
After the landing and on reaching the inside of the airport, it is better to follow the instructions to keep warmth if the waiting hours are more than one hour. Otherwise acclimatizing yourself with the destination weather helps in reducing temperature and pressure variation inside your body, making it less taxing for the thermostat mechanism inside us.
Mask, handwashing, soap and sanitiser, should be used wherever needed. Use of sanitiser on the toilets seats before use will help in reducing the chance of contracting urinary tract, vaginal and other pelvic infections. Sanitiser can be used on the toilet seat after ablutions also, to prevent spread of infection and contain an outbreak.
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