I don’t know about you, but every time I went on holiday as a kid, I heard endless myths about the impact of air travel. “Did you know that planes dump waste from the toilet mid-flight?” I remember someone telling me. “You lose a third of your tan on the flight home,” someone else warned – a particularly horrifying concept for my teenage self.
But one story I’ve never been able to sort into the fact or fiction category is whether or not flying by plane can impact your sex life. Below, I speak to Marie Morice, clinical sexologist and founder of Lilith Your Life, to try and get to the bottom of it.
How does flying affect your body?
In recent years, research into the impact of travelling by plane on our bodies has been gradually increasing. Interest is coming from both sides of the aviation coin – frequent flyers want to figure out how best to combat the negative side effects of travel, while commercial airlines want to ensure that they are looking after consumers when they choose to fly with them.
Thanks to this research, we now know the reasons why we bloat on a plane, why we feel more drunk at 38,000 feet, and what makes us puffy during and after flights. We’ve even figured out why travellers are more prone to crying in the air, and why food and drink tastes different on a plane (on that note – this is the food you should never eat while flying).
According to Marie, here are some very common, albeit temporary, physical effects of travelling by plane.
Blood oxygen saturation
“Typically, in-cabin air pressure is equivalent to that seen at 5,000 to 8,000 ft. This is the equivalent of travelling to high altitudes such as mountains or ski resorts where the right of oxygen deprivation is high, leading to potential blood oxygen saturation, which is not sustainable long-term.”
Jet lag
“Passengers who change time zones are likely to experience circadian rhythm (our inner-clock) misalignment, leading to jet lag disorder (JLD) as well as insomnia, increasing stress, alterations in hormone production and regulation and reduced performance.”
Low humidity and dehydration
“Optimal humidity is reported to be around 40-70 per cent – Humidity levels in airplane cabins are around 5-20 per cent, leading to overall dryness and dehydration: nose, throat, eyes, etc. It can also make it easier for infections to spread. A study by Austrian researchers has shown that a long-distance flight can dry out our skin by up to 37 per cent and may lead to increased itchiness.”
How does flying impact our brain?
“Research has found that mild hypoxia (oxygen depletion) in airplanes can increase levels of anxiety, depression, negative emotions, panic attacks, claustrophobia, decrease energy levels and our ability to deal with stress – combined with dehydration and the other physical effects mentioned above, this can alter some aspects of our mood.”
Can flying have any impact on your sex life?
Similar to the increase in studies on the impacts of travelling by plane, there’s also been a surge in scientific research for the wellness industry – specifically, in the sexual wellness market, an area expected to reach a value of $55 billion by 2028. This has bled into the travel world, as adventurers, thrill-seekers and travellers seek to explore their sexual wellness as part of the latest industry trend.
“Plane and sex travel stories often refer to the ‘Mile High Club’ – sex on air. But there are actually direct and indirect impacts of flying on our bodies that might have an impact on our sex life,” Marie explains. “It has become such a common way to travel that people mostly tend to underestimate the potential impacts it can have on their bodies, minds and sex lives.”
“There is no doubt that aircraft cabins are peculiar and potentially highly stressful places for humans to spend any (regular) amount of time, even if they do take us to beautiful and relaxing places,” she tells us. “They are a weird environment where the air pressure is similar to that atop an 8,000ft-high (2.4km) mountain. The humidity is lower than in some of the world’s driest deserts while the air pumped into the cabin is cooled as low as 10°C (50F) to whisk away the excess heat generated by all the bodies and electronics onboard.”
“The cumulative effects of hypoxia, sleep deprivation and dehydration are definitely not conducive to a healthy sex life – you ideally want to feel the exact opposite: oxygenated, rested and hydrated.”
“On top of that, research shows that there is a direct link between anxiety, claustrophobia, uncertainty and your libido – hormones that go up in the brain, like norepinephrine and epinephrine, will lower testosterone and that will immediately have an effect on libido and even sexual function.”
Does flying have an effect on your menstrual cycle?
I regularly hear exclamations from friends on girls’ holidays, bemoaning the change of their cycle due to travel. In the past, I’ve found that the flight has “brought on” a period earlier than expected, but that belief was purely based on lived experience from myself and friends or family – I’ve never actually known if there was any science behind it. I asked Marie whether there was any connection between flying and menstrual cycles.
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“Not directly, but the factors associated with air travel can affect your menstrual cycle indirectly: the jet lag, the overall stress, the disrupted sleep patterns linked to long flights can disturb your hormonal balance and potentially lead to cycle irregularities,” she explains. “It’s your body reacting to a rather hostile environment.”
Can travelling by plane cause any long-term impacts on your sex life?
“Frequent travellers might be experiencing heightened versions of the various symptoms described above,” Marie admits. “One way to find out is to understand the long-term health impacts of flight attendants. In 2007, the Harvard’s School of Health launched ‘The Flight Attendant Health Study’ to improve working conditions for cabin crews around the world. It is the longest-running longitudinal health study focused on understanding the health effects on flight attendants of working in the airplane cabin environment.”
“Flight attendants are some of the most understudied workers, yet flight crew are exposed to many physical and psychosocial stressors, such as cosmic ionising radiation, higher ozone levels, stressful interactions with passengers, severe circadian rhythm disruption and other exposures. Although the study encourages flight crews to report about their health on the Flight Health App on a range of indicators, sexual health doesn’t seem to be part of the measurements – this would be a relevant additional criteria to continue researching the long-term impact of flying exposure on our sex lives.”
What can you do to combat these side effects of flying on your sex life?
“Exercise before and after your flight to get the oxygen pumping,” Marie advises. “Start hydrating at least 24 hours in advance of a flight, drink lots of water during and after the flight, and avoid overconsumption of caffeinated or alcoholic drinks. Remember to walk around during long flights, try meditating and deep breathing, and change your sleeping routines before flying to reduce the risk of jet lag.”