Dr. Eboni Green
October 17, 2022
Realizing you need to move an elderly parent closer to you can create a lot of anxiety. How will they take the news? Where are they going to live? How are you going to move them?
The question of moving elders long distances is one that many families face. While you consider your options, remember these medical conditions that prevent someone from flying.
DVT is a medical condition where someone gets a blood clot in the deep tissue of their leg. Often, the blood clot comes with a fair amount of pain and swelling. People with DVT should not fly because this form of transportation involves a lot of sitting and not moving their legs, which is exactly what causes DVT in the first place.
If your loved one has recently had a stroke—within the last two or three weeks—they should definitely not board an airplane. During the time after a stroke, people are more susceptible to blood clots, which tend to develop during flying.
COPD is a category of medical conditions that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis; these conditions are grouped together because they all refer to problems with breathing and airflow blockage. This can be a problem because the air pressure inside a plane is less than sea level, making it harder for some people to breathe.
Most doctors recommend not flying after a recent surgery. The specific reason may differ depending on the surgery, but it usually has to do with the danger of clotting. The definition of recent also changes depending on the invasiveness of surgery. Based on surgery type, the following indicates the typical number of days a patient must wait after surgery before they may be cleared to fly:
These medical conditions that prevent someone from flying are not the only reasons to worry about your loved one using air transportation. Even for someone who is in good health for their age, there are still other airline hazards for the elderly. Some of these include catching infectious diseases and the risk of falling or getting injured.
Your best option is to talk to your loved one and their doctor to find the safest and most comfortable means of transportation. Doing so will go a long way toward making your loved one feel better about the change.
