Stop getting sick when you fly – Airplane tip

by Gadling Staff on

Forget buying expensive products that promise to keep you healthy when you fly. This simple, but unglamorous trick, prevents me from getting sick every time.

Before I head to the airport, I put a generous amount of antibiotic ointment on a cotton swab and then coat the inside of my nose. It creates a barrier for the germs and keeps my nose from becoming dry and irritated while breathing the recycled air in the plane.

(Of course, I have no medical proof, but I never get sick after flying when I remember to do this.)

SkyMall Monday: Sling Couture Arm Sling ACTUAL REVIEW

by Mike Barish on

A few weeks ago, SkyMall Monday reviewed the Sling Couture Arm Sling. We were thrilled to learn that it made people feel good by making them look good. But it was such an important product and held such potential to help people who are recovering from uncomfortable injuries, that we just had to try it out for ourselves. The only problem? Well, no one at the SkyMall Monday headquarters (read: me) had a broken arm. Sure, I could strap on the sling to gauge its fit and comfort level. But, without actually having a fractured bone, it’s a challenge to understand just how useful the Sling Couture Arm Sling truly is. Enter Calvin, my Garden Yeti* who recently injured his arm in a tragic self-pleasuring incident. His misfortune is our gain, as he can now share his thoughts on the Sling Couture Arm Sling firsthand.Calvin was quite impressed with how durable the sling is. It’s well-made, fully adjustable and able to withstand the active lifestyle of an cosmopolitan Garden Yeti. As you can see from the photo above, Calvin attends many formal functions. Dressing down is simply not an option. The Sling Couture Arm Sling allowed Calvin to look the part of debonair lawn ornament at cocktail parties, debutant balls and Quinceañeras.

The padded straps and sling provided Calvin with the comfort he needed to ignore his injury and focus on impressing the other party guests with his witty anecdotes. While his arm was throbbing and the pain was difficult to manage, the Sling Couture Arm Sling kept him looking calm, cool and collected. Traditional slings look clinical and simply remind you that you’re still not back to 100%. The Sling Couture Arm Sling had Calvin feeling confident and sexy. For a medical product to bring a wounded Garden Yeti such confidence is a tribute to the magic of sequins.

You wouldn’t expect a strong, aggressive Garden Yeti to welcome sequins into his lifestyle. But Calvin is comfortable with his sexuality and appreciates the attention that the sequins garner him. He knows that he wouldn’t receive all the coy smiles, flirtatious winks and, most importantly, phone numbers, if it wasn’t for his disarming eyes and sparkly sling. He’s even considered continuing to wear the sling after he is completely recovered just for the advantage it gives him with the fairer sex.

Overall, Calvin recommends the Sling Couture Arm Sling. At $40, it may be the cheapest medical product that you ever purchase and is a small price to pay to help you both make light of your injury and continue to live your elegant lifestyle. Pills may make you feel numb and time may heal all wounds, but the Sling Couture Arm Sling makes even the gruffest Garden Yeti look like a million bucks.

* Full review of the Big Foot Garden Yeti to come in the near future.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

SkyMall Monday: Sling Couture Arm Sling

by Mike Barish on

Remember when you were young and broke your arm and everyone signed your cast? It almost made falling off that jungle gym worth it to have everyone you knew come over to autograph that itchy plaster on your arm. Sure, you ended up with a pale, shriveled limb and a pretty boring summer, but that cast made you popular. Well, adulthood is less conducive to enjoying a cast. As an adult, you have meetings, social obligations and dress codes. It’s hard to attend black tie functions with a bright white cast. And everyone will want to know how you injured yourself. Referencing that jungle gym probably won’t be very plausible. Instead, people will be questioning your decision to make a go at being a professional arm wrestler. But what if you could conceal your busted wing and look fabulous doing it? This week, SkyMall Monday features an accessory that no klutz or failed armed wrestler should be without. SkyMall knows that just because your health is bad doesn’t mean that you can’t look good. And that’s why everyone with a broken arm and an elitist social calendar needs the Sling Couture Arm Sling.Sure, you could wear a plain black sling, but it would lack panache. It would be devoid of flair. It would be bereft of style. And you’re better than that. You need a sling that’s covered in sequins. You know the saying “if you look good, you’ll feel good?” Well, let that good feeling help your arm heal. Sure, the pins and screws and immobilization will go along way towards fusing those bones back together, but narcissism is the best medicine. Rather than asking you about your injury or last place finished in the Tri-County Arm Wrestling Pro-Am, your friends will be wondering how they can break their arms and look as good as you.

Think that bedazzling your ulna isn’t that humorous? Then you don’t get good skeleton jokes. But, make no bones about it, this product is a must for anyone with a broken arm. Just take a look at the product description:

Heal properly in greater comfort, and look good while doing it…When you look better, you will feel better!

Didn’t I just say that? Now you’ve read that theory twice…on the internet…so it’s doubly true!

So, whether you fell off of a jungle gym, sucked at arm wrestling or were thrown down a flight of stairs by Ray Pruit, heal in style with the Sling Couture Arm Sling. Your arm may be broken, but your dignity (and fashion sense) will still be intact. And that’s really all that matters.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

Medical Doctorate? Register with Lufthansa and get free miles

by Grant Martin on

The safest flight on which I have ever flown was between Minneapolis and Honolulu on a Northwest 757. On my way to a wedding in Maui, I happened to be on the exact same flight as 40 surgeons bound for a conference on the island. Imagine my comfort in knowing that if I choked on a mai thai there would be someone to resuscitate me.

Airlines often give an unofficial token of thanks to medical professionals who help on board a flight during an emergency. Stories range from upgrades to first class to vouchers for the in flight duty-free store to a bottle of Champagne, all small thanks for helping a fellow passenger in need.

German based Lufthansa is now making the process more official in their Doctors on Board program. MDs in the Miles and More program can register prior to departure to be “of use” during a medical emergency, and in return, Lufthansa will deposit 5,000 miles into the doctor’s account.

Note, while it does not say “medical” doctor on the proper site, the registration form does require credentials to be faxed in, so doctors of Mechanical Engineering or Judeo-Christian history need not apply, unless, perhaps, a passenger is having trouble falling asleep.

Three travel ideas from the ITB Berlin Travel Show

by Tom Johansmeyer on

More than 11,000 exhibitors from 187 countries tried to make their mark at the 2009 ITB Berlin Travel Show. They showcased wines, highlighted unique local attractions and generally tried to show that they are the best places in the world for tourists to spend their hard-earned cash. Travel+Leisure tried to describe the industry’s hottest trends, but the article really came across as “here are a few cool things I noticed.” So, I took the coolest of the cool, below:

1. Get healthy
Plenty of destinations offer spas, yoga and fitness options – sometimes using them to theme an entire resort. But, that’s thinking small. Go all the way with medical tourism, and call those DDs your own in an overseas clinic. Before you develop visions of hacksaws and cigarettes over the operating table, some of these surgical getaways are in upscale facilities.

Hey, it’s up to you. Roll the dice.

2. Hearken back to the Cold War
Screw traditional cruise liners in favor of Soviet-era ships pushing down the Volga River. Praise Lenin, listen to a balalaika and drink Russian Standard vodka (quite good, actually). Lament how long it will take for the dictatorship of the proletariat to emerge.

There are other unusual cruise options out there as well – such as one in Laos that takes 28 passengers into a once inaccessible piece of the Mekong River from Vientiane.

3. Watch a new nation rise
Kosovo doesn’t have much to say for itself except that you should be patient, because the country’s just getting started. So, if you go there now, you’re getting in on the ground floor. Get to know the concierge. Tip him well. You’ll become a national hero.