How to Avoid Swelling While Traveling
When I was first pregnant, at only a few months in, I had no idea that a flight would make me swell this early in pregnancy. I was flying from the U.S to Switzerland only to find that my legs looked like sausages once I landed. And not only that but they HURT. The hiking plans I had made for my first days in Switzerland ended up consisting of me struggling to move my legs on the trails because they felt like lead. It didn’t help that my legs kept falling asleep as well. I was shocked I had had this much swelling!
When I flew back to the U.S, I made sure to use all of my pregnancy travel hacks to eliminate any swelling. I did not want to be lugging around swollen legs my first few days back at home. To my surprise, all of the simple remedies I tried worked! Upon my return, I had zero swelling! As far as the flight went, my legs fell asleep a couple times and other than that it was a breeze!
Here’s what I did to avoid swelling while traveling and how you can have a symptom-free trip too!
Make sure to drink a lot of water before, during and after the flight
Take about 350 mg of magnesium and calcium before and after the flight. Be careful as some people have soft stools from taking too much magnesium. While most people can take up to 300mg of magnesium daily without symptoms, be sure to dial it down if you need to). The good thing is that you can’t take too much magnesium as your body will just excrete what it doesn’t use
Eat lots of protein and salt everything to taste. Excessive sweating can cause unnecessary swelling dur to a lack of sodium or a poor diet.
That’s all! It’s very very simple. Just make sure you drink, take magnesium and eat protein and salty-rich foods.
If you’re dealing with excessive swelling that lasts over 2 days, unrelated to travel, check out this article on chronic swelling.
