Jet Lag Is Part Of Life For Frequent Fliers

Dealing with jet lag is quite simple for people who only fly once in a while, possibly just a couple of times a year on vacation or for the odd business trip, but for aircrews and those of us who fly regularly, jet lag often brings various health problems that can become almost permanent.

Long-haul travelers will be familiar with the disruption to their sleep pattern and the insomnia that can result from a long trip, in addition to such things as changes in mood, irritability, gastro-intestinal problems and difficulty in processing information. But, for the very frequent flyer these generally transient symptoms are a part of everyday life and are regularly joined by menstrual cycle problems for women and even by short-term psychiatric disturbances for a number of people. So how do you go about managing jet lag?

The main factors which influence the degree of jet lag experienced, aside from the frequency of travel, are the distances traveled, the direction of travel and how old you are.

If you are regularly traveling across only one or two time zones then any affects will probably be very mild. However, once you start to cross more than three world time zones, and particularly when you begin frequently traveling over six or more time zones, symptoms will start to increase markedly.

The symptoms of jet lag are also much more apparent if you are traveling east and affect you less if you fly west. For instance, if you fly from London to Singapore on vacation you will experience more jet lag when you arrive in Singapore at the start of your holiday than you will in London when you return.

In general when you fly east you can expect that jet lag will last for several days and a good guide is approximately two thirds of the number of time zones crossed. For instance, if you cross six time zones you may expect jet lag to affect you for about four days. When flying west jet lag may be expected to last for about half this time.

Age is also a significant factor when it comes to jet lag and, as your age increases, you will find that you are increasingly affected by jet lag.

There is no such thing as a true jet lag cure although there is a lot that can be done to help in reducing jet lag symptoms.