7 Things to Know Before Your Next Long Flight, Drive or Shift 

You know the moment.

The plane starts its descent, you reach under the seat for your shoes, and they won't go back on. Or you pull into the driveway after two days on the road and your ankles have disappeared. Or you stand up at the end of a long shift and your feet feel like they belong to someone else.

It happens on almost every trip. It doesn't happen at home. And every time, you're told the same things: drink water, skip the salt, get up and walk around.

You've done all of that. It still happens.

Here's what's really going on, and why a growing number of travelers, drivers and people who sit for a living are changing what they do before they ever sit down.

Your legs have two jobs they can't do while you're sitting.

The first job belongs to your calf muscles. Every time you take a step, they squeeze the veins in your lower legs and push blood back up toward your heart. That's why doctors call the calf your "second heart." When you sit for hours, your second heart barely beats.

The second problem is the seat itself. When you sit with your knees bent, the front edge of the seat presses right into the backs of your legs, where the big veins run. Think of a garden hose with a kink in it. Water keeps coming from the faucet, but it can't get past the kink, so it backs up.

Put those two together, the pump switched off and the line pinched, and blood slows down and settles in your lower legs. Fluid seeps into your ankles and feet. Hours later: swollen ankles, heavy legs, and shoes that won't go back on.

It isn't your age. It isn't the pretzels. It's the seat.

In the fall of 1940, during the bombing of London, thousands of people spent their nights sleeping sitting up in canvas deck chairs in the air-raid shelters.

A London pathologist named Keith Simpson noticed something alarming. Sudden deaths from blood clots in the lungs had jumped sharply compared to the year before, and almost all of them were people who had spent their nights in those shelters. Most were over 60.

The cause he identified was the deck chair. Its front edge pressed into the backs of the knees for hours at a time, slowing the blood coming up from the legs. His recommendation: give people bunks so they could lie flat.

Fourteen years later, in 1954, doctors published the first report linking long airplane trips to the same problem. By 1988 they had a name for it: "economy class syndrome."

An airplane seat is a deck chair with a seatbelt.

It isn't only flying. Anything that keeps you sitting with your knees bent for hours does the same thing:

• Long car trips and road trips
• Driving for a living: trucks, buses, delivery vans
• Jobs where you can't get up: dispatchers, call centers, cashiers, office work
• Tour buses, trains and long ferry crossings
• Even long ceremonies, concerts and ballgames in folding chairs

That's why so many people say the swelling "only happens when I travel." At home you're up and down all day, and your calf pump keeps working. On a travel day, or a long shift, it gets switched off for hours.

The standard advice isn't wrong. It just has limits.

Compression socks help a lot of travelers, and if they work for you, keep wearing them. But they squeeze from the outside and only while they're on. Many people find them hot, tight and hard to get on, especially with stiff fingers, and you can't wear them with a dress and sandals.

Getting up and walking is one of the best things you can do. But the seatbelt sign, a window seat, a delivery deadline or a lit-up phone line don't always let you.

Drinking water is good for you, but there's surprisingly little evidence that it prevents swollen ankles on its own.

Putting your feet up helps, but only after the swelling has already started, and only while you're lying there.

Notice the pattern? Every one of these works on your legs from the outside, and only during or after the trip.

None of them does anything to support healthy circulation from the inside, before you ever sit down. That's the piece most travelers have been missing.

Researchers have been studying travelers' legs for decades, and two natural ingredients keep coming up.

French maritime pine bark. In a 2005 study of 211 passengers on long-haul flights, researchers measured ankle swelling before and after. In the group taking pine bark extract, the swelling score went up by about 18% during the flight. In the group that didn't, it went up by about 58%. A later study of frequent long-haul flyers found less swelling and smaller ankle measurements in the pine bark group as well.

Nattokinase. An enzyme from natto, a fermented soybean food eaten in Japan for about a thousand years, studied for its role in supporting healthy blood flow. In 2003, researchers gave passengers on 7- to 8-hour flights between New York and London a combination of nattokinase and pine bark. The company behind it was encouraged enough to try to get British Airways to carry it on long-haul flights.

The formula many of these travelers are choosing is Folira's 8-in-1 Nattokinase Complex. It's built around 10,000 FU of nattokinase per serving, about five times what most nattokinase bottles carry, and it also contains French maritime pine bark, along with:

• Aged garlic extract, for the lining of the blood vessels
• Grape seed extract, rich in plant compounds studied for circulation
• CoQ10, for cellular energy
• Turmeric, dandelion root and bromelain

The key difference is timing. Instead of reacting after your ankles swell, travelers start taking it every day for about two weeks before the trip and keep going through the travel days. People who sit for a living simply take it every day.

How to take it:

Take it with a meal and a full glass of water.

Keep wearing your socks if they help, and keep getting up whenever you can. This works alongside them, not instead of them.

Here's what people describe after taking it daily for a couple of weeks before a trip:

• Shoes that slide back on when the plane lands
• Walking the whole airport to baggage claim instead of limping
• Being out on the first day of the trip instead of in the hotel with their feet up
• Getting out of the car after a long drive without waiting for their legs to wake up
• Zipping up work boots at the end of a shift

It isn't magic, and everyone's legs are different. But for a lot of people, it's the first thing that's worked before the trip instead of after.

Every order is backed by a 90-day money-back guarantee. Start two weeks before your next trip, take it through your travel days, and see for yourself. If you don't notice your legs feeling lighter and more comfortable, email us and we'll refund your order. No hassle, no questions asked.

Current pricing:

1 bottle: $29.99

Buy 2, Get 1 Free: $59.99, just $19.99 per bottle. Most popular, because it covers two weeks before your trip, the trip itself, and the trip after that.

Buy 3, Get 2 Free: $89.99, just $17.99 per bottle. Best value for frequent travelers and anyone who sits for a living.

Folira sells out fast. Check if the next batch is available through this:

When should I start before a trip?
About two weeks before you leave. Take it every day, including travel days.

Do I still need compression socks?
If they help you, keep wearing them. Folira works from the inside; socks work from the outside. Many travelers use both.

Can I take it with my blood pressure medication?
Check with your doctor or pharmacist before combining it with any medication, and always if you take a blood thinner or daily aspirin.

I get an upset stomach with supplements. Any tips?
Take it with a meal, and start with 1 capsule a day for the first week before building up.

What if one leg is swollen and painful after a trip?
Don't wait. Contact a doctor right away. Sudden swelling and pain in one leg needs to be checked.