Know Your Risk Factors
Even for frequent travelers, the overall risk for developing a blood clot is typically small. It depends largely on how long you’ll be traveling, as well as your other risk factors. Knowing what risk factors you have will help you remain alert to any signs that a DVT has developed. It will also encourage you to take action quickly if you develop any of the symptoms, rather than dismissing them as leg cramps or becoming ill while on a vacation. The CDC outlines several risk factors that you should be aware of when traveling long distance:
- Age: Your risk of developing a blood clot increases once you’ve hit 40
- Weight: Obese and overweight people are more likely to develop blood clots than their lean counterparts
- Surgery or Trauma: If you’ve had surgery or trauma to the body within three months of traveling, you’re at an increased risk for developing a DVT
- Birth Control/Hormone Replacement Therapy: If you’re on a birth control that contains estrogen, such as the pill, or if you’re undergoing hormone replacement therapy, your risks for a blood clot are higher.
- Pregnancy/Postpartum: Changes in the body chemistry of pregnant women, as well as the strain that the uterus puts on leg veins, put pregnant women and women up to six weeks postpartum at an increased risk for developing a clot.
- Active Cancer/Recent Treatment: If you currently have cancer, or if you’ve recently undergone cancer treatment, you may be at an increased risk for DVT
- Limited Mobility: If you have limited mobility due to injury or illness, you may be at an increased risk for blood clots.
- Varicose Veins: These veins aren’t just unsightly; varicose veins may put you at an increased risk for developing a DVT