Most of us have found ourselves on an airplane for one reason or another. Some of us view these flights as an exciting way to escape the boredom of regular day-to-day life. For some of us, it’s an anxiety-inducing but necessary part of life for business or pleasure.

Whatever the case may be for you, planes are a place that many of us spend at least a little bit of time. 

No matter the duration of the flight or where you’re going, all flights have at least one thing in common: they can get pretty darn uncomfortable, coach seat or otherwise. They can take a toll on our back, neck, hips, and even our feet. But why is that? And how can you make your flight a little bit more, well, bearable?

Let’s take a look at what makes flights so incredibly uncomfortable and how you can use an airplane footrest to turn those achy, tingling feet into a thing of the past, making your airplane rides more comfortable.

Why Airplane Rides Are So Uncomfortable

First, we need to consider for a moment why flights can take a toll on our bodies - especially when it comes to our feet. If we’re sitting in an airplane, we may expect to experience neck and lower back pain due to the uncomfortable seats. Foot pain, on the other hand, may surprise some of us.

The causes of all of these aches and pains related to flights, both long and short, are, for the most part, due to the same issues. 

For one, the seat that you are confined to is small and usually uncomfortable. Unless you’re in first class, you can expect to be stuck to a mere three feet of space and two armrests that contain you and limit your range of motion.

Studies have shown that airplane seats have actually gradually gotten smaller as the years have gone by to get as many tickets available per flight as possible, and that is only going to get worse.

Even if you are in first-class, there is never really a surplus of space, especially if you use a tray table. After all, you are in a piece of machinery that has to be light enough to stay afloat in the sky (and most of us are still not sure how exactly all of that works). 

Aside from the tiny seat you have, there’s the infamous lack of legroom. If you’re over the height of 5’8” or are blessed with long limbs, you will most likely find yourself hugging your knees for at least a few hours. This leads to an understandable decrease in blood flow and immobility in your feet and legs, which is easily going to cause leg cramping, knee stiffness, leg pain, and swelling.

Lastly, you spend a lot of time on a flight: a flight from the East Coast to the West Coast of the United States clocks in at about five and a half to six hours. If you’re making a trip overseas or to a faraway place, you can expect to spend even more time in that tiny airplane seat. This comes with issues of its own which can really take a toll on your entire body.

Why Your Feet Hurt After Sitting for So Long

It can seem a bit outlandish to think that your feet and ankles may hurt after a long bout of sitting around. After all, you’re off of your feet, right? So why do they ache after a long shift at the office or, in this case, a long cross-country flight?

The reasons that your feet may hurt even if you’re seated for a long stint of time are surprisingly numerous. 

One of the main reasons for achy feet that occur when sitting is that the inactivity causes an undue amount of pressure on certain parts of the foot. Since your feet are likely moving very little, if at all, the pressure and weight of your legs are concentrated to one or two specific parts of your feet. 

This pressure can be made even worse if you have poor seated posture. When sitting for long bouts of time, many of us relax our feet into strange positions. Some of us allow our ankles to roll and allow the outer edge of our feet to carry the weight of our lower half. Some of us are prone to flat feet, causing pressure to fall on the inner arches of our feet. 

Then, some of us place our feet closer to our seat than necessary, creating pressure in the toes and balls of our feet. Or we lounge with our feet more forward in an attempt to make the best use of the minimal leg room as possible, which, of course, causes the pressure to be placed on our heels. 

All of these situations lead to cramping in various parts of our feet, which then causes pain throughout the higher-up parts of our legs, specifically our ankles, calves, and shins. You can see why sitting for such a long time on a plane can cause so much stress, aches, and pains in your feet and ankles.

Luckily, you don’t have to let your feet suffer through those long, stressful flights any longer. Using an airplane footrest could be the secret to a more comfortable flight.

What is an Airplane Footrest?

When it comes to flying in comfort, most of us have heard of airplane pillows, also known as travel pillows. So just what exactly is an airplane footrest?

An airplane footrest is exactly what it sounds like, but the way it works is a bit unique. It acts as sort of a foot sling attached to a strap that you can set onto the seat in front of you. It has a place for you to put both feet into the bottom section, sort of like a little foot hammock that hangs.

This airplane foot hammock lifts your feet into a comfortable position where they are slightly elevated. This offers quite a few different benefits that stem from increased circulation in your feet and ultimately create an overall more pleasant and comfortable experience for your plane ride.

Because it’s small and non-disruptive, it can easily be stowed in the pocket of your backpack, carry-on, or purse and taken out once your flight begins. Its portability makes it a convenient tool in the ultimate airplane comfort setup. 

The Benefits That an Airplane Footrest Has To Offer

Before you buy, let’s look over a few of the essential benefits that this simple but effective gadget has to offer.

The most obvious benefit is a more comfortable flying experience, but the benefits of this airplane footrest don’t just stop there. 

Here are just a few of the many positives that an airplane footrest can help your plane ride with:

Take Pressure Off of Your Feet

The biggest benefit that the airplane footrest has to offer is that it naturally takes the pressure off of your feet.

When you sit traditionally in your airplane seat, your feet are placed on the ground. Though this is, of course, how we are all accustomed to sitting, that doesn’t mean that it’s how we should be sitting.

When you think about it, you’re on your feet all day. Between walking, standing, climbing the stairs, and the occasional run, we place a lot of pressure on our feet just by living our normal, everyday life. 

Though our feet are designed to support the weight of our bodies, they deserve a break.

By sitting down, your feet are still placed under a bit of pressure. Though it’s less pressure than they are put through when you’re in motion, it is still pressure, nonetheless. And when you consider how long you’ll be sitting on the plane, that pressure can really add up.

The airplane footrest takes the pressure off of your feet by hoisting them up off of the floor, unlike traditional footrest pillows. This not only takes the pressure on your feet from the weight of your legs but also prevents that weight from wearing on your knees and ankles. This pressure relief will not go unnoticed on the muscles and joints in your legs and feet.

Promotes a Good Seated Posture

Another issue that commonly arises when we sit for long periods of time in planes is that our bodies tend to relax into a poor seated posture. This means slouching and otherwise lazy, unengaged posture. It’s bound to happen. After all, riding in the plane doesn’t seem like the most important time to practice your best posture.

With an airplane footrest, your lower half is naturally placed into a proper seated posture. This means that the achy feeling that you get from slouching around all day is prevented, specifically in your hips and knees.

This improved posture not only means you feel better walking off of the plane, but it provides a lot of comfort during your trip. You’re training your body to hold itself up properly, which gently strengthens the muscles in your body that keep you upright. If used repeatedly, an airplane footrest can help you improve your overall posture, even when you’re no longer on the plane.

It Prevents Blood Clots and Varicose Veins

Aside from the obvious discomfort that comes from sitting down for too long, there are actually some pretty severe health issues that can arise as a result. 

The most dangerous threat to your health from sitting too long is the formation of blood clots. Blood clots occur when the blood in your veins clumps up in a semi-solid state. On their own, blood clots aren’t innately dangerous and can even dissolve on their own without medical intervention. But that all changes if one becomes dislodged. 

When a blood clot becomes dislodged, it can cause serious and life-threatening complications like deep-vein thrombosis. This occurs when a blood clot gets loosened and dislodged from its location in your limbs and makes its way to your lungs. Once this happens, the situation instantly becomes a life-and-death scenario.

Blood clots can easily form in your legs when there is a lack of circulation. This is because when the blood isn’t flowing freely through your body, it begins to stagnate, which causes those clumps to form. By lifting your feet up a bit in a sort of a sling, you increase that circulation, keeping those clots from forming.

Another concern from sitting around for too long is the formation of varicose veins or “spider veins.” These annoyances are unsightly veins that become very visible from the skin. Though usually only aesthetically unpleasing, they do cause some people pain when standing or sitting. They are caused by a weakening of the delicate wall of the vein and are often caused by poor circulation as well.

An airplane footrest can improve circulation, which keeps the walls of your veins sturdy and strong, allowing you to avoid those unsightly and uncomfortable spider veins when you hop on that next long flight. 

It Can Help You Fully Relax

Lastly, if you are someone who suffers from stress during airplane travel (and many of us do), your whole body will probably get tense when you’re on board. Many of us naturally carry a lot of our tension in our hips since it’s the point where our upper and lower bodies meet. This can lead to even worse circulation and discomfort, meaning increased achiness during the ride and even when you finally stand up to get off of the plane.

When you use an airplane footrest, your body is allowed to fully relax from head to toe. Though this can’t necessarily fix your muscle tension caused by anxiety, it can help ease the tight leg muscles you may have from stressing out about your plane ride.

This relaxation allows you to naturally sit in a more comfortable and relaxed position that leads all the way up from your feet and up through the rest of your body. Your posture begins at your feet, and elevating them even slightly can help the rest of your body sort of fall in line. 

This can also lead to a lessening of the problems we mentioned earlier, which are often caused by that tension. When you use an airplane footrest, you have one less thing to worry about, which can make all of the difference whenever you’re hopping on your next plane ride.

Where Else Can You Use an Airplane Footrest?

Though the primary use of an airplane footrest is on, well, airplanes, this innovative piece of comfort equipment can be used in a variety of different ways to improve your overall lounging game.

In fact, there are quite a few different places outside of the airplane that you can make the best use of your airplane footrest.

Here are just a few other places that you can use one of these amazing airplane footrests:

At the Office

Do you spend long hours every day at your office? Chances are, after a while, your legs and feet will experience the same discomfort and aching after a few days.

You can curb some of this by utilizing your airplane footrest at your office. All you need to do is slip it under your desk and clip it onto something like a bar or pole. This is a clever way to keep your feet a little bit elevated, which offers the same benefits as using one on your airplane rides.

In Your Home Office (or Couch)

These days, more of us are working from home than ever. Though many of us have upgraded our home offices with fancy desks, comfortable memory foam chairs, and brand new webcams, many of us prefer to work from our couch with a TV tray. Which is totally acceptable, by the way.

Whatever your work-from-home setup is, you can elevate it (quite literally) by adding an airplane footrest, just like you would at a normal office. When we’re at home, we have more opportunities to rest and get comfortable, making our feet just as important as ever.

Why This Airplane Footrest Is the Best On the Market

There are a few different airplane footrests on the market, but we think that you’ll find that Everlasting Comfort has the best airplane footrest available today. Why is that? There are quite a few reasons, but let’s just look over the highlights.

Two Separated Foot Areas

If you were using just a regular other footrest, it would come with only one space that both of your feet would share. This would lead to both of your feet dragging down in the middle, causing an uneven distribution of weight that would fall mostly on your inner arches. That kind of defeats the point.

Everlasting Comfort’s airplane footrest is made with two separate areas for each of your feet. This ensures ultimate comfort as each individual foot has its very own space, allowing for a more even distribution of weight. It also keeps your feet appropriately spaced for maximum comfort, keeping your knees in better alignment as well.

The Highest-Quality 100% Memory Foam Available

When you think of all of your favorite comfort accessories like pillows, seat cushions, and shoe inserts, there is one common material that comes to mind: memory foam. And that’s for a good reason.

Memory foam is the most comfortable material on the market. It is soft and luxurious while providing the support necessary to keep your feet perfectly in place. That’s why we made our airplane footrest after the most comfortable, high-quality memory foam available. This makes it perfect for supporting your feet and knees on even the longest of flights, wherever in the world you’re going.

Ribbing That Reinforces

When you use your airplane footrest, it’s easy for it to lose shape over time. After all, you are putting a good amount of weight on it. Especially if you are a frequent flyer, you may notice your airplane footrest sags more and more over time until it doesn’t seem to do its job anymore. Some footrests even wear out in the bottom, rendering them completely useless and kind of a waste of money.

We avoid that.

To make sure that your airplane footrest will hold up no matter how many flights you use it on, we have added reinforcing ribbing to the bottom. This will help your high-quality footrest retain its shape and rigidity over time, meaning one airplane footrest can last you a lifetime of even the longest flights.

Customized Fit Unique to Your Feet

No two pairs of feet are the same. Everlasting Comfort is aware of this. That’s why we make our footrests fully customizable to your needs.

Each footrest comes with a fully adjustable strap to attach to the seat in front of you. You can make it longer or shorter depending on the length of your legs, the height of the chair in front of you, and where you want your feet to rest this trip.

Not sure how to do that? Or maybe you just need a little bit of guidance to figure out how you can find that sweet spot to rest your feet. If you need a little bit of help trying to figure out how to adjust your airplane footrest, ours comes with a video installation guide to make everything crystal clear. This eliminates any confusion you may have and helps you become a professional at installing and adjusting your airplane footrest to your specific needs and desires.

Lifetime Warranty

Even though our top-of-the-line airplane footrests are designed and built to last a lifetime, we understand that sometimes, things happen. That’s why each and every one of our airplane footrests comes with a lifetime replacement warranty.

If anything goes wrong, rest assured that you can return and replace your airplane footrest at any time, for any reason. We want you to have the best possible experience with our products, and we are willing to back that up with this guarantee. 

An Airplane Footrest Can Change Your Flying Experience

If you’ve spent too long with your legs cramped in an uncomfortable position every time you take a flight, it’s time to upgrade your experience.

One of our high-quality airplane footrests can help take your flight from miserably stiff to comfortable and relaxed. 

Traveling Is Tough On Your Feet, But Not Anymore: The high quality memory foam lining on our plane foot rest is soft, yet supportive, minimizing discomfort and fatigue.