What a successful week. The business trip in Shanghai went off without a hitch. You made the sale, you ate a lot of fried noodles, and now it’s time to relax on the long flight home. Alas, the happiness that comes with victory is as fleeting as the streaming clouds passing by your tiny window. Soon, you realize you’re in Economy Class seated in a cramped, crusty airplane chair next to a sweaty, smelly ogre of a man. You get a cramp in your shoulder. Your arm falls asleep. Your legs are pinned uncomfortably under the seat in front of you. Mere moments pass before your ankles begin to throb, then your calves shudder, and soon, both your legs feel as though tiny needles are unmercifully poking them in rhythm.
If you continue to sit there motionless, dealing with the progressive pain, then you are putting yourself at risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), a formation of a blood clot (thrombus) primarily in your deep leg veins. Don’t gasp in horror, yet. Through a variety of simple exercises, you can take the proper precautions to reduce the risk of DVT (also as known as “Economy Class Syndrome”).
Let’s start out with some seated exercises:
- Ankle Circles: Lift your feet off the floor and twirl them as if you’re drawing circles with your toes. Feel free to continue this for fifteen seconds and then to really entertain yourself, reverse direction. Repeat if desired, but don’t break a sweat. You just want to get the blood flowing, not perspire as much as the behemoth next to you
- Foot Pumps: This one’s really subtle. Take off those seven-inch stilettos, and press your feet flat on the ground. Okay, now keep your heels on the floor and lift your feet towards you as high as possible. Hold for a second or two and then flatten your feet. Then you got to reverse it, girl. Lift your heels as high up as possible, keeping the balls of your feet on the floor. Continue for thirty seconds, and repeat as desired.
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