You took off your shoes at the beginning of the flight and, when it comes to land, you find it challenging to get your shoes back on your feet. No, your shoes didn’t shrink in midair, but your lower legs, ankles, and feet may have grown a little bit larger.
For the one-quarter of adults in the United States who have varicose veins caused by chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a condition that affects about 25 million American adults, flying can become slightly troublesome thanks to leg swelling.
To explain this phenomenon, we turn to the resident vascular specialist here at Upper East Side Cardiology — Dr. Satjit Bhusri. Through our Vein Institute, we treat common venous issues like spider and varicose veins, and we understand the side issues that often accompany these pesky veins.
The primary culprit behind varicose veins is CVI, which we already mentioned is very common. To circulate your blood back to your heart, the veins in your legs feature small, one-way valves that open and close as blood passes through. This action prevents blood from pooling in these surface veins as the valves help to keep the blood flowing in the right direction — up to your heart.
With CVI, these valves weaken and they fail to close all the way, which allows blood to pool in your lower veins, creating enough pressure that the vein rises to the surface of your skin, which is what creates a varicose vein.
Now let’s link the leg and foot swelling when you fly to varicose veins and CVI. Leg swelling after a long flight isn’t uncommon and tends to occur more in people who have CVI. As we already discussed, when you have CVI, blood isn’t flowing as well as it should in your legs.
This issue is exacerbated on a flight because you’re not moving when you’re on a plane and, worse, your legs are bent at the knee for long periods, which can slow circulation even further. As a result, pressure builds inside your blood vessels and forces fluids out into neighboring tissues.
In most cases, the leg swelling is more of a nuisance than anything else, but you’d still rather land without cankles.
If you have varicose veins and CVI , you’d do well to take some extra steps when you fly, and this includes literal steps.
First, it’s a great idea to wear compression stockings when you fly or travel long distances — the pressure these socks provide encourages better blood flow and discourages pooling.
Second, move as much as you can. We know planes are small, but if you can get up and walk the aisle every once in a while, this can help a good deal in combating leg swelling. Even if you can’t get up and move around, try stretching and moving your legs as much as you can at your seat.
We also recommend drinking plenty of water before and during your flight. Hydration is important and getting enough fluids can make circulation flow a little more easily.
We want to end with this thought: If your varicose veins bother you when you travel, this is a sign that you should come see us for removal. We offer a full slate of varicose vein treatments, and we can make quick work of your bulging and uncomfortable veins.
To learn more about preventing in-flight leg swelling, as well as explore your treatment options for varicose veins, please contact our New York City office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan by clicking here, or you can call us at (212) 752-3464.
