I will cut right to the chase here and be perfectly blunt with you: if you are travelling or are about to and are not taking any of this DVT talk seriously, you could be putting yourself at great risk.
Consider this.
One of the most well known flight related DVT fatalities, occurred in October 2000, when a 28-year-old, bride-to-be and ‘fitness fanatic’ Emma Christofferson collapsed and died minutes after getting off her Sydney to London flight.
Perfectly healthy and fairly young, not what you would expect from someone who could pass away from this condition, Especially when you realize that she did not fit into any of what is considered to be the more common DVT risk factors eg. over 40, poor health, pregnant or anything else for that matter. Yet it happened.
Which is why I will say it again – this affects anyone who does not take this condition seriously.
Sure there are certain factors which can drastically increase your risk to DVT, but be aware of this now – if you are flying anywhere longer than 4 hours and do not do something in order to promote blood circulation, particularly in your legs, no matter how much the following risk factors I am about to share with you may not relate to you – as can be seen in Emma’s unfortunate case – you may want to think your position again.
But before I get into the risk factors I must make this clear.
This article is by no means a definitive guide to knowing if you are at risk of DVT or not. In all regards concerning your own health, it is always best to seek out the advice of your health professional.
And with that said, if any of the following sounds remotely like you, you may want to consider taking action.
The most common risk factors to Deep Vein Thrombosis are:
- Sitting for extended periods of time
- Cabin pressure
- Injury
- Surgery within last 3 months
- Pregnancy
- Birth Control Pills
- Pacemakers
- Catheters
- Overall poor health
- Personal or family history of Deep Vein Thrombosis
- Personal or family history of Pulmonary Embolism
- Personal or family history of blood clots
- Personal or family history of heart conditions
- Personal or family history of varicose veins
- Cancer
- Smoking
- Obesity or being overweight
- Over 40
If this sounds remotely like you then you should definitely consider the recommended precautionary measures, which are covered here.
And if any of the risk factors does not sound like you but you are travelling by air for more than 4 hours, or by any other means without doing something to promote blood circulation eg. long car or train trips, then you may also want to look at the recommended precautionary measures.
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