So you have come home from your vacation, the long haul flight was quite comfortable, you had a great vacation, no sickness, you didn't get gastro enteritis, or malaria, in fact despite your friends doom and gloom, you survived intact.
However it's not all over yet, because did you know that your holiday flight can kill you.
Yes you read that correctly, your holiday flight can kill you, because you can acquire DVT, deep venous thrombosis, even after you have gone back to work.
Every year this kills people, and it's not necessarily immediately after they return, sometimes it's weeks later.
Put in a nutshell, DVT is a killer, and you must take it very seriously indeed, especially if like the rest of us you have to travel in the cramped conditions at the back of the aircraft which is why DVT is commonly known as economy class syndrome.
So how would you know if you have DVT and what exactly is it? It's probably easier to describe what it is first.
It is simply a blood clot in one of the deep veins normally in your calf.
The problem is if the blood clot begins to break up, and a clot travels to your lungs and kills you.
You need to realise that long train or car journeys, even after an operation when you have had to lie in bed for a few days.
The key is inactivity for a prolonged period of time, and as a consequence it can and does happen to healthy people for no good reason at all.
The answer to the obvious question is how to recognise if you have got DVT? In a nutshell there would be pain, swelling, and a heavy feeling in one of your legs, normally in your calf below the knee.
In addition the leg can be very painful to touch, and is often red, but if the vein becomes completely blocked then the leg will become dark and very swollen.
If you somehow or other manage to miss these obvious signs, then you need to be aware of the symptoms of pulmonary embolism which is when the clot has travelled to your lungs.
You will become very short of breath, with chest pain, and you could well cough up blood, followed or preceded by a sudden collapse.
If you or anyone you are with experience any symptoms of either a DVT or a pulmonary embolism, you must seek immediate emergency medical treatment.
However it's not all over yet, because did you know that your holiday flight can kill you.
Yes you read that correctly, your holiday flight can kill you, because you can acquire DVT, deep venous thrombosis, even after you have gone back to work.
Every year this kills people, and it's not necessarily immediately after they return, sometimes it's weeks later.
Put in a nutshell, DVT is a killer, and you must take it very seriously indeed, especially if like the rest of us you have to travel in the cramped conditions at the back of the aircraft which is why DVT is commonly known as economy class syndrome.
So how would you know if you have DVT and what exactly is it? It's probably easier to describe what it is first.
It is simply a blood clot in one of the deep veins normally in your calf.
The problem is if the blood clot begins to break up, and a clot travels to your lungs and kills you.
You need to realise that long train or car journeys, even after an operation when you have had to lie in bed for a few days.
The key is inactivity for a prolonged period of time, and as a consequence it can and does happen to healthy people for no good reason at all.
The answer to the obvious question is how to recognise if you have got DVT? In a nutshell there would be pain, swelling, and a heavy feeling in one of your legs, normally in your calf below the knee.
In addition the leg can be very painful to touch, and is often red, but if the vein becomes completely blocked then the leg will become dark and very swollen.
If you somehow or other manage to miss these obvious signs, then you need to be aware of the symptoms of pulmonary embolism which is when the clot has travelled to your lungs.
You will become very short of breath, with chest pain, and you could well cough up blood, followed or preceded by a sudden collapse.
If you or anyone you are with experience any symptoms of either a DVT or a pulmonary embolism, you must seek immediate emergency medical treatment.
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