Is it possible to fly by plane after surgery. Flight after sinus lift and bone grafting
Many have heard that a compression sleeve and the same tights are necessary for any flights, however, not many know why. Let us explain to you.
During takeoff and landing, the passengers of airliners experience great stress associated with a sharp drop in pressure. In addition, at an altitude of ten thousand kilometers, the air is much more rarefied than below, and the atmospheric pressure in the aircraft cabin is very low - only 600 mm Hg. Art. against the usual 760. Add to this the forced hypodynamia (inactivity) for several hours. All this leads to a violation of blood and lymph flow in the limbs. In medicine, there is even such a thing as long-distance travel syndrome, from which in the UK alone about 2,000 air passengers die every year. For its prevention during long - over 3 hours - flights, doctors recommend using compression hosiery. After breast surgery, it is necessary to wear not only special stockings / knee-highs, but also a sleeve during the flight.
Is it possible to use simple tight knee-highs or a sweater with narrow sleeves instead? Theoretically it is possible, only there will be no benefit from them. The fact is that the compression sleeves and "traveler's knee-highs" provide the limbs not even, as usual, but physiologically distributed pressure, which gradually decreases from the ankles to the knee. This is the only way to support the "pumping" function of the muscles, level the stagnation of fluids, prevent edema and thrombosis.
How to use compression hosiery? Put on your sleeve and knee-highs before leaving home and keep them on during the entire flight, even if there is a transfer. Walk in useful knitwear for another two to three hours after arriving at the site.
How else can you help your body during a flight?
Choose comfortable, loose clothing, comfortable shoes with low heels for the flight.
Take off your shoes as soon as you take your seat in the salon.
Don't cross your legs.
Try to walk or do some arm and leg exercises every half hour. Rolling from heel to toe (at least 5 minutes), combing hair, squeezing and unclenching the palms are very useful.
Drink as much liquid as possible.
Avoid drinking alcohol the day before and during your trip.
Valea wishes you a pleasant flight!
You can purchase compression hosiery for travel and everyday life.
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The recovery period after any surgical intervention requires compliance with certain restrictions. Of course, you should significantly reduce the intensity of physical activity, make minor adjustments to your usual wardrobe. But there is no reason to deny yourself the pleasure of traveling!
Is it possible to fly by plane after mammoplasty? Can! The quality of modern prostheses, new surgical techniques allow women to minimize the number of unpleasant restrictions.
When can you fly after mammoplasty?
Traveling by air is a lot of fun in itself. The feeling of flight and the incredible view from the porthole are attracting more and more travelers.
Do not forget about business flights. After all, many women who decide on do not want to take long breaks in their careers. The modern quality of prostheses is no longer “afraid” of pressure drops. The tightness of the shell allows you to keep the contents of the implant inside without causing any special difficulties. And in order for the prosthesis to be damaged, something more serious must happen than a few hour flight.
Features of the rehabilitation period
Even if you decide to fly on an airplane after mammoplasty, you need to remember to follow important rules. As a prevention of the occurrence of postoperative inflammatory processes, it is necessary to drink a course of broad-spectrum antibiotics. And it is important to take them at strictly defined hours in order to maintain the concentration of the active substance at the proper level. And it's so easy to forget about it in the vain change of time zones!
Up to 2-3 weeks, it is forbidden to lift weight that exceeds 2-3 kilograms. This means that the contents of your carry-on baggage must be carefully considered. And the luggage itself must be carried by another person. Another point is related to raising your hands - this is strictly prohibited for 10 days after the operation. It is important to remember this every minute!
Is flight dangerous for prostheses?
The times when pressure drops negatively affected the condition of implants are long gone! And the opinion that they burst at a great height or depth, and even more so makes plastic surgeons laugh. Experts fear something quite different.
Air travel is associated with an increased load on a woman's body. The dentures themselves are strong enough to withstand any pressure and movement changes. Doctors care more about the condition of their own tissues and their restoration. Therefore, experienced plastic surgeons do not have a universal answer to the question: “when can you fly after mammoplasty”. The body of each person is individual!
A long flight with a change of time zones is stressful! And it is difficult to predict how his body, weakened by surgery, will transfer it. Therefore, it is better to save energy for recovery in the first few weeks after the operation.
Each type of surgery, regardless of whether the problem is minor or the person has undergone a major course of treatment, has a certain time to recover. This period is usually determined by the success of the treatment. One of the most important and common advice after illness is to avoid air travel. Remember that your health is most important, even if you have found incomparably profitable last minute deals to Egypt. The duration of recovery is often influenced by the type of surgery. It can range from 24 hours to 3 months.
It must be borne in mind that the air becomes more and more rarefied at high altitudes. However, most aircraft contain oxygen gasifiers with oxygen equivalent to that of 1500-2000 meters. This is less than about 3.5% of the normal oxygen saturation of the air. As a result, people with respiratory problems are likely to suffer at great heights. This happens most often when people have been under anesthesia for more than 30 minutes. More than others, people who have undergone heart surgery, lungs are at risk, since their respiratory system is weak.
Another problem of long flights is the development of venous thrombosis of the lower extremities. This is mainly due to the immobility of the passenger throughout the journey. There is no normal blood circulation, blood collects from below and begins to stagnate. This leads to the formation of inflamed lumps in the legs, passing into the rest of the body. They can even enter the lungs and obstruct a person's breathing. Pulmonary embolism is a complication when an artery is blocked by a lump. Such problems can be fatal for patients.
Each airline has its own set of rules for boarding people who have undergone surgery. Some of these safety rules include the following points:
Can the patient withstand the reduced air pressure in the cabin
Is the patient able to survive an emergency landing
Can the patient tolerate an extended flight
Will the patient's illness adversely affect the comfort and safety of other passengers and aircraft personnel
Does the patient have health insurance
Thus, your physical condition determines the period during which flights are undesirable. For example, if you have undergone a minor surgery with a minimal opening, you can fly in the next few days. In the case of uncomplicated abdominal surgeries, the patient is allowed to fly for 4-5 days. People who have undergone invasive abdominal or chest surgery should wait at least 4-6 weeks before taking a last minute trip to Turkey and getting on a plane. However, some airlines may allow travel for up to 10 days if a flight is unavoidable. In case of eye surgeries, you can fly within 7 days, depending on the complexity of the surgery.
Remember - only your doctor can determine if you are healthy enough for the flight. Never neglect the instructions and medicines prescribed by your doctor. It is also advisable to inform the airline about your illness so that the plane is equipped with the required medicines and equipment.
So, you should avoid flying after the surgery as much as possible, otherwise complications arising along the way may ruin your long-awaited rest.
On the last flight, my neighbor was a woman who had had an operation to remove appendicitis less than a month ago. This surprised me, because in a similar situation in the past, I was afraid of possible complications and preferred to return the purchased plane ticket. As it turned out, in vain. Here's what I learned about flying after surgery.
The first and most important recommendation is to consult a doctor. To identify all the risks, the doctor must know exactly where you are going, how much time you will spend in the air, how you feel at the moment, and whether you are experiencing pain or discomfort. Based on this information, the doctor will give an opinion on the possibility of making a flight and, if necessary, prescribe additional medications.
First, the limitation of air travel is associated with the need for enhanced monitoring of the patient's condition on the postoperative days and the ability to urgently provide the patient with medical care.
The second reason is the sharp pressure drop during takeoff and landing of the aircraft. Such an effect can lead to the divergence of recently applied sutures. After about two weeks, the edges of the wound are healed and the risk of bleeding is minimal. For older people, the healing time is usually longer and can be up to 30 days.
For forced flights, you should refrain from lifting weights and try to choose a flight that does not require transfers.
Heart surgery deserves special attention. In the absence of complications and good health, the flight is possible on the tenth day. However, doctors recommend postponing the flight for at least 4 weeks, until the body is completely stabilized. It is also worth noting that when installing a pacemaker, it is necessary to avoid magnetic frames and metal detectors, since non-observance of this recommendation may result in a device malfunction. Before the security check, you must warn the airport employee about the presence of a pacemaker. In this case, the passage through the magnetic frames will be replaced by a body search.
In case of a heart attack or stroke, the requirements for flights become more stringent: an air flight is possible no earlier than 3 weeks after the operation with a stable recovery of the body. In case of a difficult surgery or a slow recovery, it is not recommended to fly for the next six months. Also, during the flight, you need to have a pressure measuring device and medicines recommended by your doctor.
The pressure in the cabin can affect the well-being of the passenger due to the development of hypobaric hypoxia (insufficient oxygen saturation of the blood) with existing respiratory diseases and heart failure. In addition, pressure changes lead to the expansion of gases in various body cavities, which also causes some discomfort.
Commercial airlines are laid at an altitude of 7010-12498 m above sea level, and the pressure in the cabin is set at 1524-2438 m, otherwise only a few big guys would have survived such a flight. Sharp climbs, even to such heights, can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and a feeling of fatigue, even in healthy passengers. The fact is that at an altitude of 2438 m, the partial pressure of oxygen in the arterial blood falls from 95 to 60 mm Hg. Art. At the same time, in a healthy passenger, the saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen decreases by only 3-4%, however, passengers with the listed pathologies develop more pronounced hypoxia.
So, in 18% of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during such flights, moderate respiratory distress syndrome is observed. These passengers may require supplemental oxygen. Unfortunately, not all airlines provide it. On all Russian airlines it is forbidden to carry oxygen even for doctors accompanying seriously ill patients. On foreign airlines, since 2005, passengers, according to doctor's prescriptions, can independently transport oxygen concentrate cylinders.
According to the Boyle-Mariotte law, gas trapped in closed cavities will expand as it rises to altitude. That is why, by the way, the bottles of shampoos and creams taken on the road are leaking. In healthy passengers, all this physics translates into only minor abdominal pain and congestion in the ears. But a person with a runny nose is already at risk of developing otitis media. With colds, the Eustachian tube connecting the pharynx with the inner ear and equalizing the pressure in it when rising to a height is inflamed, its lumen is narrowed, or even "glued". With a sharp change in external atmospheric pressure, it is enough for a healthy person to make a yawning, chewing or sucking movement (this is why caramels are sometimes distributed on airplanes), and the lumen of the Eustachian tube opens into the pharynx, which quickly eliminates the congestion in the ear. In the case of a cold, this does not always help, and then you can resort to the Valsalva technique: exhaling with a closed mouth and a pinched nose. For the same reasons, a cold after a flight can be aggravated by sinusitis. Therefore, passengers with a runny nose are advised to use vasoconstrictor drops (for example, oxymetazoline-based) before takeoff and landing. Infants can be given a bottle or nipple to stimulate swallowing and help equalize pressure in the ears and sinuses.
Bloating and abdominal pain can also occur due to the same mechanisms. Therefore, it is not recommended to drink a lot of carbonated drinks before the flight.
During some surgical and diagnostic procedures, air is injected into the body cavity (operations on the abdomen, chest, and some eye operations). If you plan to fly a few days after such an operation, be sure to consult with a specialist.
Deep vein thrombosis
Deep vein thrombosis, which can develop in a passenger sitting for many hours, is a really serious danger to life. Contraction of the leg muscles ensures normal venous return from the legs. Prolonged immobility leads to stagnation of blood in the veins and can lead to thrombosis. Blood clots that form in the veins are in most cases small and do not pose a problem. Larger blood clots can lead to swelling and soreness in the lower leg area. If a fragment of a blood clot breaks off and is injected into the lungs by the blood stream (this is called an embolism), shortness of breath, chest pain and, in severe cases, even death can occur. Thromboembolism of the pulmonary arteries does not appear immediately, but several hours or days after the flight.
Studies show that eight-hour or longer flights increase the risk of thromboembolism by about 4 times. In general, the risk increases even with 4-hour flights.
The risk of thromboembolism is increased when:
Repeated flight within the last 2 weeks
Thrombosis in the past
Thromboembolism in the next of kin
Use of estrogen-containing contraceptives
Pregnancy
Recent trauma or surgery (especially surgery to the abdomen, pelvic region, or lower limbs)
The presence of malignant tumors
Congenital pathology of the blood coagulation system
Drink abundantly
Avoid alcohol and caffeinated drinks (coffee, coca-cola, etc.)
Change your position in the chair, or even better, regularly get up and walk around the cabin
Exercise to make the calf muscles contract
Cosmic radiation
At high altitudes, the level of space radiation increases, so in 1991, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) began to consider space radiation as a factor of occupational risk for crew members. With an annual total exposure of more than 20 mSv, the risk of developing breast or skin cancer may increase. As for passengers, even those who often fly, so far no significant effect of space radiation on their health has been found.
Desynchronosis
In English, the term jet lag is very popular, which is translated into Russian as "desynchronosis" known only to specialists. We are talking about confused daily biorhythms with a sharp change in time zones. Many of us know that long flights can cause weakness, drowsiness or insomnia, constipation, and decrease performance and well-being. To fit into the new time zone, on average a healthy person needs a day for every hour of difference when flying to the west and a day and a half when flying to the east.
To alleviate the effects of desynchronosis, follow these guidelines:
Before traveling east, try to go to bed an hour earlier than usual within 3 days of your flight. On the other hand, before flying west, go to bed an hour late in advance.
Do not drink caffeinated beverages during flight
Try to fall asleep for at least 4 hours at the new place at the new night time - this will speed up the reset of the biological clock.
Melatonin-based drugs remain the gold standard in the treatment of desynchronosis. Melatonin is a pineal gland hormone that regulates circadian rhythms depending on the length of daylight hours. Melatonin preparations are recommended to be used when crossing 5 or more time zones, while taking it starts 2-3 days before the flight. If you have epilepsy or are taking warfarin, do not use melatonin without talking to your doctor. New, more effective drugs have also appeared that have not yet been registered in the Russian Federation, such as agomelatine (an agonist of melanin and serotonin 5-HT receptors) and ramelteon (an agonist of melatonin receptors).
If you are in a new location for less than 3 days, you do not need to try to adjust to the local time.
Special groups of passengers
Each airline may have different requirements, and the captain has the right to refuse a flight to any passenger, even if he has a ticket. An indicative list of contraindications for the flight is as follows:
Newborns younger than 7 days
Pregnancy over 36 weeks
Ischemic heart disease with pain attacks at rest
All serious and / or acute infectious diseases
Decompression sickness
Increased intracranial pressure caused by hemorrhage, injury, or infection
Myocardial infarction or stroke 7-10 days before flight
Recent surgery on the abdomen, chest, skull, eyes - i.e. all operations that involve the introduction of air into a closed body cavity
Severe respiratory illness, dyspnea at rest, pneumothorax (air in the chest cavity above the lung)
Sickle cell anemia
Exacerbation of mental illness
Passengers with such problems can only fly on a commercial plane when accompanied by medical personnel.
Regarding first aid on board, I note that in accordance with British, Canadian and American law, doctors from among the passengers are not obliged to rescue passengers if they develop any life-threatening condition. In contrast, in Australia, many countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, a doctor on board is required to provide medical assistance. In any case, on international flights, a medical professional cannot be held liable for the medical care provided on board within the limits of his knowledge and experience, even if it was provided incorrectly.
On board any aircraft, there is always a first aid kit, completed according to the standard of the country to which the aircraft belongs. All crew members must be proficient in first aid for acute abdominal pain, acute mental agitation, anaphylactic reaction, chest pain (suspected myocardial infarction), bronchial asthma attack, cardiac arrest, hypoglycemia, convulsive seizure, loss of consciousness. The quality of first aid training varies from country to country. Unfortunately, I have to admit that it leaves much to be desired in Russia.