www.incontinentsupport.org

wonder if any one can tell me which would be best protection to wear for a plane flight from England to the USA (Boston in fact) I will be travelling in September and have mild bladder weakness and am unsure of which protection i shall need, as I'm uncertain of how long the actual flight is. Is there anyone who could tell me?

Kakapo

I really don't know how long it takes to fly from England to Boston, but I think a lot depends on the amount of fluid loss you have now over an extended period of time. If you only have a very small loss now of a few dribbles then you don't need as much protection as someone that has two, or three semi full bladder loss in excessive of 32 OZ's. My loss can be from a few OZ's to a near full bladder discharge and over several hours this can be a lot of loss fluid.

Better safe than sorry,....I would wear a Abena X-Plus with a Abena Maxi liner for added absorbency and plastic pants, or some type of waterproof diaper cover over the diaper. I have worn this combination before and surprisingly, there is NO noticeable bulk and this amount of protection will last for hours even if you void more than 40 OZ's. Additionally, as part of my carry on luggage I would take at least one extra diaper and plastic pants in that luggage so if you needed to change you have an extra diaper with you. You can expect to spend MORE than an hour waiting from the time you leave the ticket counter to the time you clear TSA and board the flight. By the time you land in Boston and retrieve your checked in luggage will add more time that you have be wearing a diaper regardless how many hours the flight is from England to Boston. I HATE changing in public places which includes the bathroom on an air plane, but if your diaper become saturated you better have a spare diaper so taking one, or more extra diapers with you is a safe precaution for such a long flight. Just remember Murphy's Law,...if anything can go wrong it probably will so be prepared and plan for the worst.

Were you planning on having and refreshments (liquid fluids) during your flight? You could have several liquid refreshments during your flight with the recommendations I've made and you won't need to worry about having wet pants as you depart the aircraft in Boston.

Hope this helps.

Along this line, those are good comments above.

I also want to add that among some of the rigors of routine passenger flight (which can seem deceptively comfortable to us in year 2013), is
a stress factor caused by very dry, pressurized cabin air. It can be less than 1% relative humidity, something not even experienced in most
desert areas of this world. The body rapidly loses much essential moisture over the course of a longer flight, leading quickly to the dangers of
dehydration. It sneaks up on you and your symptoms can be anything BUT simple thirst for a drink of water. Add a few alcoholic/caffiene kicks
to this and you just speed up the fluid loss process substantially. If you actually wait until you are thirsty, it is simply too late. The human
body just cannot rehydrate quickly; it can take up to 24 hours for this process to complete once a deficit is encountered. That's why a
hospital may go ahead and hook up a dehydrated person up on a liquid vein-feed. Fancy that, jet setters!

All this is a double whammy to those with incontinence who will tend to LIMIT liquid intake before and during a long flight to avoid an
accident. You may still void, anyhow, and then end up with a most nasty case of dehydration symptoms including nausea, headache, muscle
spasms or cramping, heavy fatigue, dizziness and fainting, maybe even passing a kidney stone. Take your pick already.

This is all bad news...and just plain risky, even resulting in hospitalization to some at times. Ask international flight attendants.

So...the dilemma: To hydrate or not. As pointed out, wear good protection and be safe. No alcohol or caffeine, hydrate for 6 to 12 hours before
the flight and continue moderate water intake in the air, when you can. The effects of dehydrating can take several days to correct, and
will mean lost time just when you want to enjoy those exciting first days of your holiday.

Good luck and fly well!

J.

Very wise points John1050, I don't fly often at all, but never even thought of the humidity factor of an aircraft cabin... I do know all to well the problems of dehydration though, I always wondered what those headaches and cramping muscles were caused by... I know better now! Puffy

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Puffy
BC, Canada
Fighting the "Bladder Battle" since 1995

I just want to chime in with Puffy in thanking John1050 for the excellent posting on dehydration and the need for proper hydration. If you do on an on-line search regarding how much water to drink daily, I think most will be surprised and those of us wearing diapers certainly do tend to skimp on fluids, even tho we know we should not!

A very basic rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in pounds in oz of water. I weigh 180 pounds so I am supposed to drink 90 oz of water a day. I will add that I feel I do well if I can manage to down 40 oz of water per day.... so it ain't easy to hydrate properly!

JoeK

The topic of fluid intake seems popular on here, I thing Kendal's post here ---> viewtopic.php?t=618 is a really good one that sums it up very well the ongoing battle many of us face with not taking in enough fluids... I tend to to much better when I am at home and not going anywhere, then I have much more, especially at night, I am wearing something when I go to bed, so I figure that is the safest time to make up for lost fluids I don't drink much of during the day (especially at work) to avoid any mishaps... not an easy balance, but have a good idea when I may be at risk! Puffy

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Puffy
BC, Canada
Fighting the "Bladder Battle" since 1995

Back to the original post, the flight itself will be 6 1/2 hours. Add load and unload times plus schedule snafus (far more common on United or American) and you are approaching 8 hours. What would you wear if you had very limited access to the loo for that length of time? I always bring two extra changes with me, in case. They go in my small satchel that I can carry inobtrusively to the restroom on board when I need a change. A purse will do the same thing for women.

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- Tom

I really agree with the comments on drinking lots of fluids, these long flights can really dehydrate you. My wife and I always take empty water bottles with us on the flight. I will walk back to the galley and have the flight attendants refill my bottle so I always have water to drink at my seat. Really avoid alcohol.

I will wear a Tena Super diaper that has velcro fasteners that can be re-fastened with no problem. For a long flight I will wear another diaper under the Tena Super, a Tena Ultra or something a bit less bulky. When it is wet you just go to the toilet and remove the wet one and refasten the Tena Super. You may not need that much protection, but it sure helps you to relax instead of wondering when they will turn off the seatbelt light! Most flights coming into the US require that you stay in your seatbelt at least 30 minutes before landing, then you have taxiing to the gate, then customs and immigration. There are restrooms in those areas though. I would try some of these suggestions before the flight and see what really works and what you are most comfortable with wearing. Let us know how it goes for you.

Thank you everyone for your answers to my question, which has reassured me about the right protection to wear and the important factor to stay hydrated. I'm sure if I follow everyone's kind advice then i will be okay. I am feeling much more positive about the up and coming flight, and shall not worry overmuch about the things i have no control over.
Kakapo