Travel First Aid Kit: How To Prepare It
We can prepare the travel first aid kit by customizing it and adapting it to our needs. You have to take into account the place you are going to and the means of transport used, as well as your age and general health.
Traveling in rural, tropical or urban areas is not the same thing. It is necessary to prepare the travel first aid kit according to the destination, the duration of the trip and the ailments to which you are most prone while traveling.
Considerations on how to prepare the travel first aid kit
Some of the health problems that occur most often when traveling are the following:
- Motion sickness: motion sickness or seasickness
- Insect bites, with the resulting hives
- Digestive disorders
- Small traumas
With this in mind, when preparing the travel first aid kit we will have to remember to also include some elements that can solve any difficulties. In the following lines we explain in detail the most practical solution for each case.
Motion sickness or seasickness
Motion sickness can occur on board any means of transport. However, on an airplane, symptoms can become more acute, due to the anxiety associated with flying. The main symptoms are as follows: nausea, vomiting, hyperventilation, sweating, and a feeling of general malaise.
In the travel first aid kit you need to put drugs to combat nausea, such as dimenhydrinate and meclozine. Meclozine has a long-lasting effect by taking a single daily dose, making it particularly suitable for long journeys. Dimenhydrinate, on the other hand, can require different assumptions, depending on the duration of the trip. It can be taken by children from two years of age.
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you should follow the instructions given by your doctor. In these cases it is possible to resort to ginger in the form of tablets or chewing gum, always after consulting the gynecologist.
Stings and hives
Insect bites or plant-induced skin reactions are often associated with trips to tropical locations. Depending on the intensity, number and personal sensitivity, they can cause allergic pictures and skin infections due to scratching.
The best solution is prevention. It is therefore advisable to use clothes that cover arms and legs, mosquito nets and repellent devices for the rooms. In the travel first aid kit you must always carry repellents, both in the form of liquids and bracelets.
As a treatment, don’t forget a calamine lotion or an antihistamine ointment. Gotu kola, calendula, helichrysum or essential oils are also useful.
Prepare the travel first aid kit for digestive disorders
When we travel, we change our eating habits: it often happens, therefore, to suffer from digestive disorders. They can manifest themselves in the form of gas, a feeling of heaviness, acidity, burning and reflux. Constipation or diarrhea is also frequent.
Remember to include antacids in your first aid kit to combat heaviness, acidity and reflux. In addition, you can choose to resort to herbal medicine with products based on medicinal plants, such as papaya, artichoke, milk thistle, fennel, anise or rhubarb.
For meteorism, you can take medications, such as simethicone, or carminative plants such as anise, cumin or fennel.
Diarrhea and episodic constipation
To calm diarrhea, sachets of mineral salts and glucose for rehydration cannot be missing. We also recommend that you take antibiotics with you to restore the intestinal flora.
You will need to have a drug consisting of loperamide on hand. If you are looking for relief from episodic constipation, you need to add a stimulant laxative such as bisacodyl, sodium picosulfate or cassia.
Travel first aid kit
In the travel first aid kit it is important to include everything you need to treat any small wounds, blisters, burns, sprains or strains. We recommend that you bring all the following material with you:
- Saline solution : used to clean wounds.
- Disinfectants: for example, povidone iodine or chlorhexidine solution.
- Dressing material : gauze, bandages, plasters, stitches and support bandages.
- Cream against sunburn.
- Instant ice bags.
- Hydroalcoholic solution : it will be used to disinfect hands and surfaces.
Ailments such as sore throat, cold, fever, body aches and migraines can occur at any time. In light of this, it is good to have an analgesic such as acetaminophen and tablets to soothe and disinfect the throat.
In conclusion
Preparing your travel first aid kit the right way will help you avoid several complications that could ruin your vacation. If in doubt, the pharmacist can help us prepare it according to the route we intend to follow.
However, you must remember that there are also diseases that you could be affected by while traveling and that go beyond the remedies you can carry in a medicine case. When traveling, take out medical insurance and, if in doubt, consult the health authorities of the destination you are headed to.
