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Maintaining your good health requires some special consideration while driving long distances.
Here are some tips for staying healthy while driving:
- Dress comfortably, preferable something loose so as not to constrict blood vessels.
- Drink water to stay hydrated, especially when traveling during hot weather or thru desert areas or high elevations. Consider eye drops if you are prone to dry eyes.
- Driving thru mountains requires consideration of the effects high altitude has on your circulation and breathing. Consult with your doctor if you have any heart or lung conditions. Be sure to stay hydrated and take breaks from sitting to help prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis and other complications. Wearing compression stockings will also help prevent blood clotting.
- Pregnant travelers should stand and walk often and stay hydrated due to increased risk of blood clotting. It is not recommended to travel towards the end of the pregnancy.
- Everyone should consider the possibility of getting stranded for some period of time in a remote area or even just a long traffic jam and be prepared with extra medications and medical supplies if needed and extra drinking water and food. Use good judgment and plan for the worst.
Extra Education on Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT):
DVT is a condition where blood clots form deep in the veins, usually of the legs and can break loose into the bloodstream possibly causing, stroke, brain damage or death.
These clots are very dangerous, as they may not have any symptoms so prevention is very important especially for those with high risk factors. These factors include age, smoking, periods of immobility, family history, blood disorders, cancer, heart disease, recent surgery, pregnancy, and obesity.
Symptoms of DVT can include pain or swelling and redness of the problem area (usually in the legs) but many DVT’s don’t have any symptoms at all so take precautions even if you don’t have symptoms. Keep hydrated, move around and do some simple exercises, some examples are repeatedly lifting your knees towards your chest, moving your feet in circles, pushing your feet up and down.
One of the great things about traveling by RV is the ability to easily stop and use the bathroom or walk around so take advantage of this and keep yourself healthy.
