Here’s what specialists in aerospace medicine want you to know about air travel.
I’m a nervous flyer with a vivid imagination — not an ideal combination. Rocketing along in a crowded, oxygen-strained space for hours can give me all sorts of things to worry about. A random stomach pain can send me into a panic: What if I get sick up here?
It turns out that there’s a whole discipline of preventive health care — “aerospace medicine” — that focuses on treating pilots, aircrews and astronauts.
“We’re trying to keep people healthy in an unhealthy environment,” said Dr. Leigh Speicher, an internist and aerospace medicine specialist in Jacksonville, Fla., and president of the Civil Aviation Medical Association.
I asked her and other experts for their best tips on how to stay healthy during this travel season.
As you book your flight …
You can start thinking about your health as you’re looking for flights, said Dr. Paulo Alves, the global medical director of aviation health at MedAire, which provides remote medical assistants to airlines, and a fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association. If, for instance, you often get motion sickness, book a seat over the wing, which is more stable, he said.
And reconsider your trip if you have an ear or sinus infection, Dr. Alves said. When you’re in flight, he said, congestion can make it harder to adjust to changing air pressure, which could result in pain, bleeding and even a ruptured eardrum.
Untreated toothaches and postponed root canals can be similarly painful during flights, said Dr. Meghan Hatfield, an endodontist in Summit, N.J. If you notice any pain or swelling, she said, get it looked at before you fly.