Be in no mood to chat
Politely deter your neighbour from engaging in mid-flight small talk by getting out a book or plugging in headphones.
Don’t watch TV
The light from the screens keeps your brain awake. “If the environment is noisy, try some relaxing music,” advises Dr Dawood, “perhaps with noise-cancelling headphones.”
Ear plugs
Which brings us onto ear plugs, which are designed to block sound and let the wearer sleep. These have come on leaps and bounds in recent years. Now, as well as disposable foam ear plugs, you can buy biodegradable wax plugs that you can squish into shape and specially-designed silicone plugs that you can reuse. Not only do they cancel out sound in varying degrees, but they should feel extra comfy on a plane, as you won’t be pressing one ear into a pillow.
Sleep apps
There are also apps that you can plug into and zone out. Sleep-inducing sessions would need to be downloaded first so they can be listened to offline, in the cabin. Three of the best apps to try are:
- Calm, which offers a mix of stories, music and breathing exercises.
- Headspace, which produces ‘sleepcasts’ that are like meditations to get you dozing and describe relaxing scenarios.
- BetterSleep, which provides more than 150 soothing sounds to help you drift off. These feature not just white noise but pink, deep brown and green noise, plus a host of other pacifying sounds.
Failing that, listen to music that puts your mind at ease, be it Bon Iver or Debussy.
Try a pillow
Airport shops sell ring-shape neck pillows for the desperate but ideally, you should bring your own pillow that you know you’re comfortable with. “My current favourite pillow is a Tempur,” said Dr Dawood.
Alternatively, try one of these more unusual sleeping aides. The “ostrich” pillow, for example, is a good choice for narcoleptics everywhere. The brand also offers scarf-like pillows designed to keep your head upright, as does Trtl.
Alternatively, this BauBax multi-function jacket, dubbed the “world’s best travel jacket”, has a neck pillow attached, as well as an eye mask. These are the best travel pillows tried and tested by the Telegraph.
Sleep masks
You could keep it simple with a light and silky eye mask or use the mask that comes in your amenities bag on a long-haul flight. Eye masks have become more technologically advanced in recent years, though, so it’s worth considering an upgrade. Many of these are specially contoured to fit your brow and aim to provide total darkness, like the 100 per cent blackout Manta Sleep mask. Or try the nodpod, which can be refrigerated to provide a cooling feel, but it’s also gently weighted in the belief that a little pressure will help keep lids closed.
If all else fails, pop a pill
“Sleeping tablets can help overcome noise and discomfort,” said Dr Dawood. But they should only be used on journeys that are long enough, and only if you can lie down flat.
“Sleeping deeply in a cramped, upright, seated position can significantly increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and should therefore be avoided. If you really must do this, be sure to wear compression stockings.
“Short-acting sleeping pills can be used to provide as little as four hours of sleep – but it is difficult to get more than four hours of uninterrupted sleep on anything shorter than a six-hour flight.
“Taking a longer-acting pill on a short flight can leave you feeling drowsy and disorientated, unable to act in a crisis, and with an impaired memory of events around the time of the flight. Discuss the best choice with your doctor or travel clinic.”
Dr Richard Dawood is a specialist in Travel Medicine at the Fleet Street Clinic (020 7353 5678) and the editor of Travellers’ Health: how to stay healthy abroad (OUP).
