travel bugs and bothers

TRAVEL HEALTH PROBLEMS
Travel bugs and bothers
By: jadeheart

Are you planning to have a trip or an overlong vacation? Your best friend has just invited you to attend a very special occasion but you are hesitant to come due to some health related stress that accompany your travel.
Here are some pointers and tips that you can do to have a better trip and rewarding experiences as you travel.

• Altitude Sickness – Symptoms often begin with a headache, sometimes difficulties in breathing, unusual behavior, unsteadiness, and in rear cases—coma. In order to avoid altitude sickness. It is best to ascend slowly, rest, take plenty of fluids, avoid alcohol, eat light meals and avoid smoking.

• Dehydration I if you are travelling in a place where you are not sure that the water supply are safe, it is easy to become dehydrated. The common symptoms actually are mild to severe thirst, dry lips and tongue. When urinating, little is passed and it’s concentrated, sunken eyes and dry skin. It is important to maintain adequate fluid intake. Make sure that you always have enough water on hand.

• Ear Pain – There is changes in air pressure while ascending or descending. This pressure lead to a change in pressure between the middle and outer ear. Often people complain of air ‘popping’. Chewing something, yawning, sucking on sweets and doing the ‘valsalva movement’ (pinching the nose and breathing sharply through it) can help to relieve pressure.

• Frostnip and Frostbite - Numbness and whitening of the skin are indicative of frostnip. Rewarm the affected areas by placing them in the warmer areas of the body is recommended. Avoid rubbing the affected area in attempt to warm it. Frostnip can lead to frostbite where you risk losing the affected part or at worst—your life. Seek medical attention immediately.

• Heat stroke – Hot climates can eventually cause heat stroke, which can be fatal. It occurs when the body loses the ability to regulate temperature. Thirst, dizziness, nausea, profuse sweating and extreme tiredness are the common symptom of heat exhaustion. If you suspect that you are experiencing heat exhaustion, try to go to a cool, shady area. Lay down and elevate your feet. Loosen or remove clothing and sponge in water. Drink water but not ice cold water.

• Hypothermia – Result when the body loses more heat than it is able to generate. Symptoms are usually slow in onset: a body temperature less than 34.4C, shivering, slurred speech, slow breathing, cold pale skin and lethargy. To prevent this, always make sure that your head is covered in a cold climate and that you are dressed appropriately.

• Jet Lag – spending few hours travelling by air can sometimes make you feel low, tired and lethargic due to the readjustment that your body has to make after you have travelled across a number of time zones. Common symptoms are headache, irritability, loss of appetite, difficulty in concentrating and decision making. What you can do to avoid jet lag is to book your flight so that you’ll arrive at night. This helps your body to adjust to the changes in time zones. Don’t nap, if you must, keep it to just an hour. Napping will delay you adjustment to the new time zone.

• Sunburn – Remember to be sun safe. Prolong exposure to the sun can cause skin cancer. Always apply sunscreen protection at least 30 minutes before going to outdoors; cloudy days and snowfields are no exception. If you do get sunburnt take a cool shower, apply cold packs and if necessary, take pain relievers.
Travel bugs and bothers should not be the reason for you not to take that long overdue vacation or road trip you wanted to experience. Understanding the problem before hand and being prepared is all you need to enjoy.

Source: HealthGuide

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