How do you keep from getting sick after long flights?
 

How do you stay healthy? I always seem to get sick after long haul flights. I think it may be a result of bad plane food and lack of sleep that keeps me from resisting the germs picked up in the air and on surfaces. Any hints?

I've heard that dabbing a bit of anti-bacterial lotion in each of your nostrils helps. Also, carry handi-wipes and wash your hands frequently. Drink lots of water and not a lot of alcohol. Anyone else?

Load up on Vitamin C to stimulate your immune system.

Eat light while flying?? If I just nibble on what they give me, I don't feel as uncomfortable, and less apt to get upset stomach. I agree with lots of water!

doc has the right idea, and I'm giving it a try today. Will report results in a few weeks.

avoid contact with pillows and blankets on the flight. if contact should happen, wash hands immediately with antibacterial lotion. when using the airplane bathroom, make sure to wash hands thoroughly, then use a paper towel to open and shut airplane door. use an antibacterial wipe to open tray table or touch any surfaces in or about your seat. upon arrival at hotel room, take another antibacterial wipe or 2 and wipe off the following: remote control for tv, all door handles, telehpone touch pad and cradle. if you used your laptop during flight, when your at the hotel room, wipe off the keyboard with a wipe as well.

these precautions have helped me immeasurably when i travel, which is often.

i also second the vitamin c thing, I take about 4-5,000 mgs of C 2 days before i fly.

I know a pharmacologist who takes echinacea/goldenseal for 2 weeks before any plane travel. I just try to stay hydrated and wash my hands fairly frequently.

Smileworld..You realize you're taking advice from a republican,I assume.

I read that tap water in airplane bathrooms is loaded with bacteria.

We carry a travel size container of Purell to "wash" hands.

I think that Purell is similar to what presidents use after shaking hands with a crowd.

flopmeister, good ideas - may I add, I carry plastic wrap for doors, knobs, remotes, phones, tiolet seats, anything I have to touch, in addition to microwipes. Also, never touch my face until I can wash well, and if my face itches, I use my glasses ear part to rub. Grocery carts are extremely contaminated, be very careful there too.
If any of you think we are over reacting, get a blacklite and look at your room/bath in the dark. You will be shocked. Still haven't found a way around lung/bronc irritation for airplane recycled air.

Well, another GOP'er with a sense of humor!! That makes two this week! But remember, I'm not asking you for advice on budgets, taxes, security, gay marriages or Condy Rice! Only vitamin C, and I think your advice on that is reliable. Will report the results (assuming I survive)!

I generally bring my own food on the plane rather than rely on what is served - sub sandwiches, salads packed in plastic to-go containers, cookies, and other things that travel well. I've also stuffed my own pillow into my carry-on for long flights, which makes for much better sleep.

After years of getting sick with bronchitis after coming back from vacation I figured out it was the poor quality of airline air.. So, two days before leaving to come home I start an anti-biotic....it works..Also carry Cottonelle for wiping down sinks and toilet seats..among other things..

just remember, housekeeping typically use the SAME RAG to clean all surfaces (and i mean all) in your hotel room and on the plane. Future civilizations will no doubt look upon our sanitary pracitces as we do cannibalism.

... goodness gracious, but who said anything about eating housekeeping's rag?

This is my routine:

Drink lots of water.
Take "Emergen-C" before and after flight.
Bring my own snacks -- peanut butter crackers, raisins, etc.
Do not drink alcohol during the flight.
Wash hands frequently.
Hope I dodge the bullet.

All of the suggestions above are good ones. I always got sick after long flights until I started taking a product called Airborne. It apparently has many protective agents in it to help boost your immunity. It is available at Walgreens, Stop and Shop, and in the Magellan's catalog. I've been using it for the last 2 flights I took, and no sickness!

I have never thought about this. I did get sick once on arrival in London, but otherwise I guess I have a strong immune system. BUT: what about acidophilus? does anyone think it would help de-potentiate bacteria that got into your stomach? I knew someone who took it all through her travels in India and was the only member of her group not to get sick.

yes, and a daily snack of Certified Organic Yogurt can be helpful also.

Bodi, ever watch the show, "Monk"? Just kidding! I too recommend taking extra Vitamin C daily as a rule (at least 1000 mg a day or more.) Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night with a cold, pop a couple C's, and wake up feeling great. However, what to do if you find yourself sitting next to someone who is hacking and sneezing the whole trip and the flight is full?

I've never gotten sick from a flight, including marathons like Atlanta-Johannesburg and Los Angeles-Sydney. Am I just lucky???

Acidophilus might help deal with intestinal bacteria, but won't do anything about viruses, including all those respiratory ones.

I have nothing to add to the above list, except to second the recommendations for staying hydrated, washing hands and surfaces that you'll touch a lot (remotes, airline tray tables, etc.) since if they ARE "cleaned," it's often done with a questionable rag that removes visible dirt only.

As I told my kids when they were arguing about not washing their hands when we got home from the mall: Assume that everything YOU touched was also touched by some little kid who picks their nose.

I travel every week and never get sick, just tired. I never use all the antibacterial stuff and take virtually no precautions. I eat tacos off the street in Mexico, too. Years ago I worked in an elementary school and the new teachers would get sick many times during the first year of teaching. They had to build up immunity during that first year. Elementary schools are just as gross as planes or hotels... possibly worse.
Sometimes you are doing more harm than good by overdoing all the antibacterial products. I just wash my hands a lot.

Actually: I have read summaries of research on contagious respiratory diseases: the main way they are transmitted is your hands to your face -- so -- yes keep cleaning your hands and also avoid touching your face or your food. (to me cleaning hands seems more important than cleaning stuff you will touch. But -- I guess I got a big enough variety of diseases as a kid to be immune to most of these things).

The idea behind cleaning things that you will touch is that there are some things that you touch a lot, that other people also touch a lot, that you just can't wash your hands after every time you touch them -- these include airline tray tables and various parts of your hotel room, especially doorknobs and remotes.

I think I'm pretty moderate on this issue, considering that my Mom carries alcohol wipes with her and always cleans things like restaurant silverware before using it.

I've never gotten sick after a flight. I chalk it up to getting plastered on the flight. I think the alcohol kills all the germs.

Just kidding.

Geesh, I thought I was the only germo-phobic person who carried their trial size packets of antibacterial cleaning and hand wipes to hotel rooms. I'm sure meant to be covered in above, but I didn't see mentioned, but first thing I wipe off in hotel room is the toilet seat and the vanity/faucet. The downside to the anti-bacterial gels is that we are becoming too dependent on them....they also kill good bacteria with the bad, so in some ways, doing us harm instead of good.

Anonymous and Elizabeth win the prize(s) for most correct answer.
Studies have shown that the vast majority of post-flight infections are caused by: people dragging their dirty hands up to their mouths/noses and depositing bacteria/viruses there.

I fell victim a couple times several years ago (partially ruined a trip to Europe) and vowed never to have this happen again.
I've been extremely careful on planes (and in airports) ever since and have had zero problem.

The trick is to imagine how dirty your hands become as you touch your arm rest, magazines etc and never allow them to touch your face until cleaned.
So before eating, wash them carefully.
Don't put your fingers in your eyes/nose/mouth and you'll be amazed at how much better your post-flight health will be.

As for Vitamin C, it's not been proven to help prevent such infections, and the data on Echinacea is conflicting (some studies say it helps, others show no benefit).
And hydration is always important on flights over an hour.

While I agree with all the contaminated- hands-from-surfaces-to-face theories, I have to believe there is something additional at work here - we all touch equally contaminated surfaces closer to home. For me, it may be that I often start vacations overtired, overstressed and on vacation am not as nutritionally careful as I am at home. (Fewer fruits and veggies, etc.). Perhaps that combined with the surface contaminants. That said, we flew 12 hrs each way to Egypt, touched all sorts of bacteria-laden surfaces (some of the bathrooms we used were beyond description in their grossness) and none of us got sick.