Why you should never sit still on a plane if you’re on the contraceptive pill

A healthcare professional has shared a warning of the additional risk women who take the contraceptive pill face when they travel via airplane.

Simisola Olatunde-Adeyemo, a physician associate with the NHS, posted a video on TikTok in response to another user who said her fiancé, who is a doctor, advised her to stand up and stretch every two hours during a long-haul flight because she is on the pill.

In her video response, Olatunde-Adeyemo said she "absolutely loved" the advice and gave a short explanation about why it is important not to sit through a whole flight without standing and stretching at all.

"If you’re taking a contraceptive pill, especially the combined pill which contains oestrogen and progesterone, there's a small risk that you could develop something called DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis), which is also known as a blood clot which typically happens in your legs," she told viewers.

"It’s really important that, if you’re on a long haul flight, you keep moving… you can do some calf stretches or you can even wear compression socks to help," she concluded at the end of the video, which has garnered more than 637.7k views since she shared it last week.

Why does it happen?

Olatunde-Adeyemo tells Yahoo UK that, while a woman’s risk of developing a blood clot while she is on the pill is small, being on combined hormonal contraception has been shown to expose people to an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE).

VTE is the umbrella term for things like DVTs and pulmonary embolisms, or blood clots, she explains. An average of around five to 12 women per 10,000 experience this condition each year.

"The hormone oestrogen is the main factor that increases the risk of VTE because of the way it affects coagulation [of the blood] in the body," Olatunde-Adeyemo says. "The combined pill contains both oestrogen and progesterone, which is why any form of combined contraception will carry this same risk - unlike the mini pill, for example, which just contains the progesterone hormone [and therefore] does not have the same VTE risk."

Signs and symptoms of Deep Vein Thrombosis

• One-sided localised pain that comes on when walking or bearing weight

• Calf swelling

• Tenderness

• Skin changes to lower limbs (redness, swelling, warmth)

In severe cases, a blood clot in the leg can "break off" and travel through the body to the lungs and brain. This can cause an embolism or stroke, depending on where the clot travels to, as the clot can block an artery and cut off oxygen to vital organs and tissues.

What should I do on a flight?

The NHS encourages people to get up, go for a walk and do stretches while on a flight, particularly a long-haul flight that is four or more hours long, regardless of whether you are on the pill or not.

Olatunde-Adeyemo recommends stretching and moving your legs, feet and toes while in your seat every half hour or so to encourage blood flow.

She also advises people to get up from their seat to move every hour or so, if you are allowed to move around the cabin.

“Wearing compression socks also helps and keeping well-hydrated,” she adds. “This is more applicable to long-haul flights, but can still be applied to shorter ones.”

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The NHS has put together some further preventative measures for long-haul travel:-

• Move around as much as possible.

• Choose an aisle seat where feasible as this is known to encourage moving around during the journey .

• Carry out calf muscle exercises: flex and extend your ankles to encourage blood flow.

• Try to avoid placing cabin baggage where it can restrict your leg movement.

• Avoid excessive alcohol consumption and the use of tranquilisers or sleeping tablets as this may discourage you from moving.

• Keep well hydrated as this this can encourage walking to toilet.

• Seek urgent medical attention if you develop: swollen, painful legs especially if one is more so than the other, breathing difficulties.

More information about contraception:

• If you're on the contraceptive pill, avoid these painkillers (HuffPost UK, 2-min read)

• Contraceptive pill negatively impacts mental health, believe 74% of millennial women (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)

• This is how long it takes for the pill to work, according to a doctor (Cosmopolitan, 6-min read)