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7 Ways to keep your body fit during plane travel?

Mar 4th, 2010
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It is always important to keep your body fit and healthy even during travel or vacations. Air travel brings some stresses and may expose you to some health problems. This article will discuss to you how you can prevent these problems from happening.

One of the stresses your body gets is not on board but before the flight. Most of the time, airports require the passengers to arrive 2 hours earlier the departure time. This brings stress especially if we are rushing to catch the check in time. To avoid this, leave your house early to avoid rushing. Wear comfortable shoes or sandal also because most terminals are huge and it would require a lot of walking just to reach the gate for boarding. Don’t give too much stress to your body by carrying your backpacks and luggage. There are free trolleys that you can use inside the airport. Dehydration can be avoided by taking lots of fluids. Small walks can prevent deep vein thrombosis which may happen especially during long flights. Nervousness can be avoided by relaxing and distracting yourself by reading.

Travel through air is not always advisable for those who had a recent surgery. Change in air pressure may compromise the speed of tissue healing. Cabin pressure may also worsen sinus infection and common colds. Bring all your important prescription drugs and medical history as well. Travel insurance is also an option if you don’t want to spend on unexpected health problem during the trip.

Here’s a list on what you can do during the flight:

1. Alcoholic and caffeinated drinks can add up to dehydration so you must stay away from these drinks.
2. Long flights will lead to long hours of immobility which can cause upset stomach. To avoid this, you should not eat a very heavy meal prior to the flight.
3. Immobility can affect digestion and can also cause muscle and joint pains and edema. During a flight, you may stand and move around to prevent the effects of immobility to your body.
4. Do some ankle pumping exercise by moving your ankle up and down. Compressive stockings may also help in preventing blood pooling and ensures good blood flow.
5. Prevent sinus and ear pain by swallowing sweets or pinching your nose, especially during take-off and landing.
6. Wear protective mask if you just recently got ill and have low immunity. Infection spreads easily inside the plain because of high humidity inside the craft. This is due to dehydration and drying of the oral and nasal mucosa due to high humidity.
7. If you have a history of motion sickness, it is helpful if you’ll take anti-motion sickness drug before boarding. Always bring all your important medications and consult your doctor for additional emergency prescription for the trip.

It is very important to follow the precautions above to avoid health problems during flights. This is always true for frequent travelers and to those who travel rarely as well.

Posted in: Flights, Health, Travel.
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6 Ways to Avoid Diseases due to Contaminated Water

Mar 3rd, 2010
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Gastrointestinal problems are common problems encountered by travelers especially by drinking local unpurified water. Contaminated water often cause diarrhea and also predispose travelers to bacterial infection. Aside from bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli, pollutants and chemicals may also lead to health problems when drinking contaminated water.

We drink water every day, and if we are not careful, it may cause different health problems. Follow the tips given below to avoid problems like these.

1. If available, always make sure that you drink only bottled water. Although bottled, this doesn’t always mean that it is safe to drink. Make it a point to check if the product is sealed and be certain that there are no leaks in the bottle. If there are holes or leaks in the bottle, there is a great chance that the water is contaminated. Make it a point to drink only popular bottled water. This will eliminate your doubts of the water being contaminated or improperly decontaminated.

2. The elderly are more easily infected. If no bottled water is available, boiled water is a good substitute to avoid contamination. Boiling the water will kill the bacteria and decontaminate it. Cold water is not usually safe. To develop immunity to the contaminated water, younger people can take in light amounts gradually to develop immunity against bacteria present in the water.

3. Aside from bottled water, tea, fruit juice, cola and other manufactured drinks are good alternatives to rehydrate the body. This will keep you away from drinking contaminated water.

4. Like the elderly people, children are also more prone to infection. When brushing, always instruct children to use clean and safe water to avoid the risk of infection. Don’t allow your children to brush using tap water. Use bottled water instead. Drinking small amount of water is unavoidable with children especially when they are rinsing their mouth after brushing their teeth.

5. Contrary to most beliefs, cooling the water does not decontaminate and kill bacteria. Avoid the use of ice in your drinks during trips even if the restaurant or waiter insists that they had boiled the water before using it to make ice. Remember, it is better safe than sorry.

6. You can bring your own water purification device during trips. There are products in the market that can disinfect water discreetly even in the restaurant to ensure safe drinking water. It is small so you may take it all the time, ultra violet light is used for disinfection.

Posted in: Health, Travel.
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4 Reasons Why Travelers’ Neck Pain Worsens and How to Relieve them

Mar 2nd, 2010
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Stiffed neck is a common problem that travelers experience. Long hours of sitting predispose travelers to wrong posture. This usually leads to a very torturous trip and an unpleasant trip.  How could you enjoy your vacation or be effective in your business meeting if you’re experiencing stiffed neck? What we can do is to endure the pain until it’s gone, or better yet seek medical help if we have extra cash for medical bills. If you don’t want this stiffed neck problem ruining your vacation or trip, then here are some tips that can relieve your neck pain instantly and cost effectively.

1) Hot packs. Heat relaxes the muscle and can lessen the tension. It relieves heat by counter irritation effect. The heat sensation blocks the pain sensation. But too much heat can lead to inflammation plus the stress that happens during a trip can add up to the swelling and pain. You don’t want to be in complete bed rest in your trip, don’t you?

Tip: Cryotherapy or ice pack. Apply cold compress on your strained neck muscles.
A better tip: Wet a towel and put in the freezer overnight. You can use it in the morning as a cold compress; the towel will easily adapt to the contour of your neck and will give even cooling throughout the neck region.

2) A relaxing sleep with a big comfy pillow. Yes the rest will help, but the big pillow? No way! This will further stress your neck muscle leading to more pain.
Tip: A rolled towel, cloth under the neck.

A better tip: It’s better to use a down pillow. Ask the hotel staff about it, they are common now in hotels and lodges.

3) Analgesics. NSAID or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug may do the trick. However, many over the counter drug may lead to more problems than relief. Side-effects are not uncommon with pain relievers. Drugs with caffeine will cause sleeping problem.

Tip: Abstain from caffeine; it can lead to slower recovery. Ibuprofen is a safe analgesic, but don’t take it in an empty stomach.

A better tip: Amica and turmeric are common herbal medicines that you can use. Bring some of them in your next trip.

4) Stretching. Keeping the neck in a poor position for a long time like in dozing off with the head against the window will lead to stiffed neck. The soft tissues in the neck like the muscle and ligaments are in great strain. Stretching will further stress these structure and will worsen the pain.

Tip: Do gentle stretching only when inflammation has subsided.

A better tip: Book yourself to a massage session once you arrive in your hotel. Ask the therapist to do gentle kneading as deep kneading and tissue massage can worsen the pain.

Neck pain is not uncommon to travelers. Thankfully, there are simple remedies that can alleviate the pain.

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Essential Tips for High Blood Pressure Travelers

Mar 1st, 2010
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People who travel often are more prepared for medical problems than those who travel rarely. Travelers with hypertension must be mentally prepared of the possible medical problem that may arise during a trip.

Air craft attendants are trained first aiders so there’s not so much to worry about during flights. But for blood pressure patients, there are lots of things that should be considered during the flight. During a flight, the blood pressure is higher due to high altitude, oxygen tension is lower and air turbulence may also give rise to problems. These may greatly affect the blood pressure of such patients.

Current technology ensures safety for different people with medical condition during flights. This makes air travel not a problem for blood pressure patients as long as there will be no complication that will arise during the flight.

This is not always true especially for hypotensive patients. These people usually find it hard to breathe and with the effect of high altitude, this may give rise to shortness of breath. The best thing to do is consult your doctor and ask for a plan for your travel.

Air travel means motion. This may affect blood pressure patients in developing problems because of their sensitivity to movement. Air sickness is common for blood pressure patients especially during air travel. Precautions such as anti-motion sickness medication should be made the night prior to the trip.

To avoid rise in blood pressure, it is always important to remain relaxed and seated during the entire duration of the trip. Eating a not so heavy meal is very important as well to avoid upset stomach. Refrain from drinking alcoholic and caffeinated beverage as these drinks can lead to dehydration. Dehydration should be avoided; this can be done by drinking plenty of liquids and refraining from drinking beverages such as cola and beer. Antiemetic medication is a very helpful drug that you can take if you find it hard to relax during flight and this prevents vomiting.

Packing your things for the travel is important. Keep your medical files and information about your medication on top of the inside of the briefcase for easy access. Phone numbers and information on who to contact during emergency should also be written in your file.

To avoid increase in blood pressure, meditation and thinking happy thoughts are very helpful activities to maintain your blood pressure and to prevent it from shooting up.

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Posted in: Health, Travel.
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6 Tips on How to Manage Asthma During Travel

Feb 28th, 2010
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Asthma is a very scary disease because of its unpredictability. It usually hinders people from functioning normally. Even though doctor says that it is safe to travel with asthma, it is still always doubtful for people who are having the disease. Taking proper precautions make it easier to manage asthma even during trips. The secret to this is by being prepared and having enough knowledge about your asthma.

1. As mentioned above, asthma is very unpredictable and it may happen anywhere and anytime. This is very scary especially for frequent travelers. People who have this disease can recognize symptoms even before the attack hence they can predict if they are going to experience an attack.  These early warning signs should be recognized by the patient immediately or by a companion especially if travelling with children or elderly people with asthma. If you can predict that an attack is about to occur, it would be easier to manage the asthma attack.

2. Always bring your asthma meds with you all the time and place it on an easy to access area to be able to get it without help from anybody. Be sure also not to put the medications in your check in luggage so that you can get it immediately if an attack happens.

3. There is a type of asthma that is caused or triggered by an allergen. It is important to know the amount of allergens present in your place of destination so that you can prepare measures to avoid asthma attack. Or you can decide instantly if you will still continue with the trip taking in mind the information about the allergens in the place of your destination.

4. Take your anti-allergic medication the day before the trip if you can’t help avoid from travelling to places with high amounts of allergen. This will prevent asthma attack when you get exposed to allergens.

5. It is also wise to bring a letter about your condition written by your doctor and carry it around every time while you are on a trip. This is extremely important if you are travelling by yourself or without a companion. And also, be sure to translate the letter to the local language or dialect whenever you’re traveling to another country. In case of emergency, you can always direct the doctors or paramedics to the letter so they can read it and do the proper action to manage the attack.

6. Keep a positive mindset throughout the trip to prevent attracting bad vibes such as medical problems. This is easy to do since you have made precautionary method before the trip to prevent asthma attack.

The tips provided above can help you manage your asthma if you are on a trip by yourself or help your companion with asthma during the trip.

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5 Exercises that can Performed inside a Plane

Feb 27th, 2010
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It sounds a little bit weird to perform an exercise while on the plane but it is really effective if you will give it a try. The long hours of travel is the best time to do something that can boost your energy and will keep you fit. But doing it in the plane is like crazy and you’ll catch the attention of your fellow travelers, right? Ah, not really if you’ll do it in a subtle way.

Here are some techniques that you can do while sitting on the plane.

1. Whilst seated, straighten you legs and put some tension on your anterior thigh muscles by lifting your foot until it clears the floor and your shin touches the seat in front of you. Maintain the tension for a couple of seconds then relax, do it again for 5-10 repetitions.

2. You can also exercise your abs while sitting down. Contract your abdominal muscles. The action should be like, the lower ribs are moving towards the thigh. Relax for a couple of seconds and repeat the same action for 5-10 reps. If unsure if you’re doing it correctly, just imagine what happens when you are straining when you’re in the toilet.

3. Neck stretching can be done also in the sitting position. Move your temple towards the shoulder on the same side, hold the position for a couple of seconds, then relax. This stretches the muscles on the side of the neck. To stretch the back muscles, move your nose towards the ground as if looking at your feet. Again, maintain the position for a couple of seconds then relax. Do this for 5-10 reps.

4. Exercise your ankles by rolling it with the legs straight and the feet raised from the floor.

5. To workout the muscles at the back of your thigh, you can push your feet against the floor with your knees at 90 degrees. This will help improves the body’s blood circulation and will prevent blood pooling and swelling due to immobility.

If you want to exercise without anyone noticing you, the plane bathroom is the best place to do it. You’ll have privacy and you can do more exercises standing than in the seated position. If you’re seated along the aisle, you can take over head luggage as an excuse for getting up and moving your body. These are some of the ideas that you can do to keep yourself healthy even during airplane trips.

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Posted in: Flights, Health, Travel.
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Few Words about Travel Insurance

Feb 20th, 2010
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Airline Travel Insurance:

When one is planning to undertake an Airline Travel, one is also reminded about the Airline Travel Insurance, necessary to safeguard self and provide security to the family if one gets involved in the air accident. Before going for Air Line Insurance a number of factors are to be considered to choose the right Airline Insurance.

Airline Travel Insurance Facts:

It is an insurance policy one purchases before undertaking a flight. By virtue of this insurance your family and dependents get a lump sum payment if one looses life while on Air Travel Trip. Well planned Air Travel Insurance Policy covers the journey on any flight or flights during your entire traveling period mentioned in the policy. Considering the small amount of premium very large amount of Insurance cover is available. The Policy can cover the entire group of friends or relations traveling together.
Air travel policy covers you if your plane is involved in an accident, no matter what the financial state of the airline is. Even if your airline goes belly up, your family would still be paid the benefit on your life, because the air travel life insurance policy is not through the airline industry, it is through your insurance company.

Necessity of Travel Insurance:

The General feeling is that because of high implementation of safety checks and measures, the chance of an air crash is negligible, but it does happen because of weather conditions from place of journey to the place of destination, on flight sucking of a flying bird into the air craft damaging it and badly affecting its Air Worthiness.

There is increase in the terrorism on the flight even in spite very strict vigilance by the Airport Ground Security Staff incidences of mild to major terror incidences have been witnessed and this factor is worth giving a serious thought and opt for Air Travel Insurance in the best interest of family long term security in the event of a mishap involving life of the victim.

There is lot of peace of mind while on Travel having adequate Travel Insurance Cover during travel.

Within Reach:

The affordability factor needs to be taken advantage of and no secondary thought should be allowed to avoid Travel Insurance. It is just a fraction of your total travel budget you have planned.

The Travel Insurance cost is negligible as compared to the possible advantages in the evident of an accident or damage/loss to your luggage during travel.

Due to fast travel means available the world has been reduced community of Global Village easily accessible but not completely free from transit perils, which need to be best insured to dispel the Travel related Damage and Loss factor beyond control of the organizers. Insurance Companies step in extending their security arm.

Online Check:

Expert detailed Knowledge related to travel insurances is available online, which can be studied and acted upon to take adequate Travel insurance Cover when undertaking a travel journey.

All Travel related Expenditure can be claimed in planning your Tax liability.

If one is a frequent traveler an Annual Multi Trip policy can be purchased, which covers your total insurance cover, while traveling any where through out the year.

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Posted in: Travel Insurance.
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