How will flying effect my lymphadema, will my leg swell? and if so will it return to its former pre- flight size ?

[nelbat]

[lovesradio]

Not necessarily but possibly. Wear any compression garment you have been given from before boarding till after luggage collection as a minimum. Drink water. Keep foot exercises going. All will help. I find my arm is OK ish if I do all this though sometimes on the plane it feels weird if there are a lot of air pressure changes.

[ofcourse]

This is a very important query?

I am fine with mild LD and

relatively young ( 66) but my mother is in her 90s She has it

a bit worse. We flew when she was younger now she's scared of

poss changes in air pressure.

Feed back wd be much appreciated.

Cheers

[AnneBury]

I have primary lymphoedema - both legs and feet. For short haul I can't say flying has made much difference really. Longer flights have been more problematic but all has settled down within about 24 hours of arrival. I also drink plenty of water and do foot exercises (and wear my compression garments). With long haul I think it is also the fact that you sometimes miss a night in bed - so don't get the usual horizontal sleep. I did once spend 25 hours travelling - to Hobart in Tasmania (3 flights/ no overnight stop overs - and the same for the return journey 2 weeks later). My legs and feet were uncomfortable but soon settled back to their usual size - my jet lag was far more of an issue!

[Andy13]

I have primary lymphoedema, mainly in my right leg. I typical fly several times a year, often to the States. I always wear my standard compression. I sometimes find my foot is slightly more swollen than normal when I arrive but when you factor in the longer day when travelling west or overnight flight back coming back east bound that's not very surprising. I find the biggest issue is the discomfort of the compression really stops me getting any decent sleep on the flight.

The other advice I would give is try and get some light exercise at the other end before you retire, a swim, short walk or even a long walk. That will help with the jet lag too.

[gavinlwright]

I used to be really uncomfortable before i got my compression stockings flying made things worse. After the compression there was a vast improvement. I did however find that coming back from Lanzarote in the heatwave was a problem, this was due to being static for too long before the flight and then during the flight. I would recommend plenty of fluids and movement to help keep everything flowing.

[morganite]

i went to Cyprus last year, wore my compression knee socks as usual and didn't have an issue, probably better than my hubby who felt his legs were slightly swollen, kept moving my feet about and had no issues there or on return. drink plenty and do all the things you usally do, good luck

[Mum1]

I recently had a 2 and half flight, wore compression stocking and had only a slight extra swelling in my feet, which soon returned to normal when I reached home. So I would never let it stop me from flying again.

[CHRISCS]

I HAVE ARM AND LEG COMPRESSION GARMENTS.

I HAVE FLOWN LONGHAUL MANY TIMES LIMBS TEND TO SWELL SLIGHTLY KEEP GARMENT ON FOR A DAY OR TWO LIMBS REDUCE NO PROBLEM BE SENSIBLE