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Yep, flew from Phoenix to Atlanta, fell asleep until the end of the flight, woke to get off the flight, and immediately became blind in one eye as an embolism blew up inside the vitreous fluid.

Not a great way to start a new job. Boss was meeting me at the airport thankfully and he drove me to the hospital to get checked out. A few weeks of an eye patch was the short term outcome and a bunch of new 'floaters' that my mind has mostly learned to filter out.

Just very grateful that it detonated in my eye instead of my brain...



The link I posted mentions it's not just air travel, but car, train, bus, etc, also.

But I have to wonder if the shrinking coach seat pitch/size isn't a big factor. I'm fairly average size, but flying is miserable these days.

Perhaps also the relative awkwardness of getting up while flying...the visible sighs from your row mates that have to move around a lot to let you pass.


That's a fluke. PHX to ATL is only 3.5 hours. If sitting still for that long easily led to blood clots, people would be dying in droves.


I imagine sleeping is part of it though, when you're asleep your heart beats even slower than when awake.


Woah, I will fly from Atlanta to Germany soon.

Now I'm scared..


Wear compression stockings from ankle to thigh and pop an aspirin to thin your blood an hour before flight. These helped me as I'm at high risk.


Just get up and walk around every hour or two...


"just" is not the word to associate with "get up and walk around" on an airplane. Unless you have an aisle seat it's a notable hassle.


No, it's not. You say "pardon me" to your seat mate and they let you out or you climb over them.


That is the description of the hassle (skipping the parts where they are asleep, have drinks/food/laptops, etc). But if you feel better for denying any social anxiety or physical discomfort I or others feel while "climbing over" strangers periodically, don't let me stop you.


Aisle seats make up at least a third of all seats and don’t cost extra.


And they are my preference. But they aren't always available - per this topic, you're saying 2/3 of people have a harder time (despite the dismissive commentary from others) performing a routine task for their health.


It’s not a solution for the masses, but it works well for the individual.


Nah, screw your seatmates. If they didn't want to have to wake up every two hours they should have taken a window seat.


Even with that approach, I’m not sure there’s enough room for everyone to take the recommended stand breaks.




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