travel pharmacy
These medicines have to be taken with you on holiday
The first-aid kit should always be well stocked.
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With all the holiday joy, globetrotters should not forget a well-stocked first-aid kit. Accidents and illnesses lurk everywhere.
Stepping on a pointed conch or eating the wrong thing in a restaurant: on holiday you are never safe from accidents or illness. That’s why a well-stocked first-aid kit is the be-all and end-all. What travelers absolutely have to pack? In addition to those medications that you take regularly (insulin, blood pressure medication, antiallergic drugs or the pill), you should also think about the following:
sun protection
Must-have items for travel include insect bite and sunburn remedies. Even if the sun is not yet shining as brightly as in midsummer, it is a dangerous time right now, when the skin is still pale with winter. That’s why you should always have a protective cream with sun protection factor 30 with you. A lip balm with sufficient SPF also belongs in the first-aid kit.
If you travel a lot by car or bus and are sensitive, you can stock up on travel pills. A trip to the pharmacy provides certainty about which medications are suitable. Also useful: a clinical thermometer, blister plasters, handkerchiefs and a disinfectant. The latter to disinfect your hands in Corona times or to clean wounds. Due to the pandemic, mouth and nose protection (FFP2) should also not be missing from the packing list.
Store medicines properly
It’s not just about what medicines you have with you, but also how you store them. Because many medicines are sensitive to light and temperature: “It’s best to keep them at room temperature up to a maximum of 25 degrees. But that’s only a guideline,” explains dr Grit Berger, head of the pharmacy at the central clinic in Bad Berka. According to the pharmacist, if they are two or three degrees warmer for a few days, that is not a problem. Only with sensitive medicines such as insulin “should the temperature of two to eight degrees be strictly maintained”. To protect the medication from the heat, for example on the outward and return journey, she recommends a cool bag with ice packs.
Not only because of the corona vaccination, the vaccination card should be in the travel bag. In some countries – regardless of Corona – you have to present proof of certain vaccinations in order to be able to enter the country – for example for yellow fever.
Beware of long-distance travel: vaccinations, antibiotics, etc.
If you go on holiday within the EU, a pharmacy is usually not far. However, anyone who travels to Asia or Africa after the corona pandemic should be provided with medicines as far as possible and be prepared for all eventualities. Because in these countries there are many counterfeit medicines on the market. In tropical regions, antimalarial tablets and diarrhea medication are also a must. Taking antibiotics with you can be useful on longer trips to remote locations; It is best to discuss the first-aid kit with your doctor beforehand.
If you are traveling by plane, you can take medication with you both in your hand luggage and in your luggage. If the medicines are liquid, only 100 milliliters per container may end up in hand luggage if they are transported in a transparent one-liter bag.