Jet Lag Is Inevitable If You Are A Frequent Flier

Coping with jet lag is not too hard for those of us who jet off around the world infrequently, perhaps once or twice a year on vacation or for the odd business trip, but for regular long-haul fliers and aircrews, jet lag frequently brings a number of health problems which can become virtually permanent.

Long-haul travelers will be more than familiar with the interference with their pattern of sleep and the insomnia that can be produced by a long trip, as well as such things as irritability, changes in mood, stomach problems and difficulty in processing information. However, for very frequent fliers these normally transient symptoms are a part of daily life and are often joined by menstrual cycle problems for women and even by short-term psychiatric problems for a number of people. So how do you go about managing jet lag?

The main factors which influence the degree of jet lag which you experience, aside from the frequency of travel, are the distances involved, the direction of travel and your age.

If you frequently travel across just two or three world time zones then any affects will probably be extremely mild. However, once you begin to cross more than three world time zones, and particularly once you begin frequently traveling across six or more time zones, symptoms will start to markedly increase.

Jet lag symptoms are also far more obvious when you travel east and tend to affect you less if you fly west. For example, if you are traveling from London to Singapore on holiday you will experience greater jet lag when you arrive in Singapore at the beginning of your holiday than you will in London when you get home.

Generally when you fly east you can expect jet lag to last for several days and a good guide here is roughly two thirds of the number of time zones traveled across. For instance, if you cross six time zones you might expect jet lag to affect you for about four days. If you are traveling west jet lag may be expected to last about half this time.

Another important element when it comes to jet lag is age and, as you get older, you will discover that you are affected more and more by jet lag.

A true jet lag cure does not exist but there is a lot that you can do to help in reducing the symptoms of jet lag.