Living in New Zealand, as I do, is wonderful – except when you want to travel to another part of the world . Everywhere else is so far away!
After 24 to 48 hours of long haul flights and airport lounges, your poor mind and body is struggling to keep up. (And if you’re traveling with children, multiply the effects by about 10 for each child).
“If you’re going to be a member of the Jet Set and fly off to Katmandu for coffee with King Mahendra, you can count on contracting Jet Lag, a debility not unakin to a hangover. Jet Lag derives from the simple fact that jets travel so fast they leave your body rhythms behind.”
Horace Sutton, Los Angeles Times article February 13, 1966
“Jet lag” entered the lexicon sometime in the 1960s. A 2008 article in Smithsonian traces the history of Jet Lag and the search for a cure.
It took 14 years of passenger jet travel before the FAA thought to investigate its effects on human circadian rhythms.
Studies were too small to conclude anything definitive.
In 1980, NASA became involved in studying the problem further.
The Smithsonian reports:
Researchers determined that if the average biological clock were allowed to run at its natural rhythm, “the average internal biological clock would actually have a cycle slightly longer than our 24 hr. day, about 25 hr…. Therefore, when traveling westward, the circadian day is lengthened (or delayed) and promotes adjustment to the new time zone. Conversely, when flying eastward, the circadian day is shortened (or advanced), contrary to the natural tendencies of the internal clock.“
However, apart from recommendations for rest periods for pilots, they didn’t come up with much in the way of helpful measures.
Other measures for lessening the effects of air travel have been developed over time.
General Measures for Reducing Jet-Lag & Resetting your Internal Clock:
- Be well prepared and avoid being over tired before departing.
- Consciously reset mealtimes and day/night routines. Even consider resetting meal times before you fly, as the military do, using the Argonne Anti-Jet-Lag Diet.
- During the flight stay well hydrated, avoid caffeine and alcohol. Eat light meals.
- Move about during the flight – walk the aisles or do seated exercises (take a tennis ball to roll about with your feet).
- Use sleep aids such as eye masks and earplugs.
- On arrival, expose yourself to as much daylight as possible and eliminate any form of light (including small screens) at night.
- Ground yourself by walking barefoot on the grass – if you can.
Homeopathic remedies are chosen according to the symptoms. The symptoms show where and how the body is not coping and point to the remedy required (e.g. if one is feeling battered and bruised one can take Arnica).
For Jetlag we try to anticipate the symptoms (through prior experience) and take a remedy preventatively. For most people this seems to work really well (anecdotal evidence).
However, anticipating symptoms can be difficult. So some manufacturers make combination remedies to cover all bases. Some of these include remedies to counter the affects of radiation, dehydration, missed sleep, altitude as well as changes in time zones.
Homeopathic Remedies to help Avoid or Reduce Jet-Lag
- Arnica for when you feel like you’ve been hit by a bus. The muscles feel bruised, sore all over; you feel tired, dull and out of it. Arnica is for trauma – long-haul air travel causes trauma by upsetting the body’s natural rhythms.
- Cocculus for when you feel dizzy (even to the point of fainting) and nauseous, extreme tiredness because you haven’t been able to sleep properly and you feel like you’ve been up all night. You feel better lying down.
- Nux vom for when you feel hung over, headachy, exhausted and queasy.
- Gelsemium for total exhaustion and weakness after a flight. The person who needs Gelsemium will typically worry and fret (analysis parlysis) before the trip, leading to insomnia and bodily fatigue, exhaustion and weakness that is difficult to recover from.
Tips for travelling with Children
- Chamomilla is a great remedy for over-sensitized kids that just scream and won’t settle or sleep on a flight, whether it’s due to earache from the change in altitude or just an overwrought nervous system.
- Kali Phos cell salts are also a great support for over-wrought nervous systems and general fatigue (parents and children).
