A European summer isn’t all warm weather and picture-perfect moments – sometimes it’s swollen legs from the uncomfortably long flight.
Sydney man Tom Dowling got a rude shock when he landed back in Australia from Mykonos, Greece last week.
Sharing a video on TikTok, Mr Dowling said his legs had swollen so much on the flight they were like “chunky little hoofs”.
“That is disgusting. Yuck,” he said as others could be heard laughing in the background.
The video has been viewed more than 210,000 times, with many social media users expressing their concern.
Fortunately, Mr Dowling said the swelling went down and, according to Dr Sheldon Sheps from the Mayo Clinic, leg and foot swelling during a flight is common and typically harmless.
The most likely cause is lack of movement.
“Sitting with your feet on the floor for a long period causes blood to pool in your leg veins,” he explains on the medical centre’s website.
“The position of your legs when you are seated also increases pressure in your leg veins. This contributes to foot swelling by causing fluid to leave the blood and move into the surrounding soft tissues.”
He said foot swelling wasn’t a serious problem if it lasted only a short time, but if it lasted several hours after being active or if you had swelling in only one leg and also have leg pain to seek medical care.
Some TikTok users shared their own experiences getting off long-haul flights with swollen legs and ankles.
“This happened to me when I flew to the UK last year and it was the first time it happened. I freaked out a bit,” wrote one person.
“I get them just for a few hours flight. I have to walk every hour and still doesn’t help!” said another.
“My legs after being on FlixBus for 20 hours, which I will never do again,” added a third referring to the intercity bus service.