Leisure sickness
These 5 tips will help you stay healthy on vacation
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One in ten falls ill during their well-deserved vacation. This phenomenon is called leisure sickness. We’ll tell you how you can stay healthy anyway.
You look forward to your planned vacation for months – but you get sick exactly in these 14 days. Instead of a beach vacation or a city trip, infections, pain and exhaustion are now on the agenda. Scientists refer to this phenomenon as leisure sickness.
Why do you get sick on vacation?
According to studies, people who are ill on vacation or at the weekend suffer more often from stress and a high workload at work. In their free time, they can relax for the first time and only then notice that something is pinching. In times of stress, the feeling of being unwell can be easily hidden.
Another reason is that stress has two important effects on your immune system. First, it makes you susceptible to bacterial and viral infections as well as autoimmune diseases. Second, stress suppresses the immune response. This means that the symptoms of an infection initially do not appear, since the stress hormone cortisol suppresses the immune response – on vacation, when you finally get some relaxation, the body responds with typical symptoms of the disease.
Leisure sickness: Stay healthy with these tips
1. Don’t work under high pressure until the last minute and then catch the first possible flight. Shift down a gear a few days before your vacation so that your body can get used to the new, relaxed situation.
2. Never travel without a first-aid kit! Counterfeit medicines that are not of the same quality as domestic medicines are often sold abroad. Tablets against diarrhea and nausea, against digestive problems, eye infections, earaches and colds should not be missing. Creams and ointments against mosquito bites, sunburn and injuries also belong in the first-aid kit.
3. Attention summer cold and heat shock! It is easy to catch a cough and runny nose in air-conditioned rooms. And you shouldn’t expose yourself too much to the blazing sun either – especially not without sun protection. Remember to wear a hat and prevent circulatory problems by drinking enough water: two to three liters of water, tea or spritzers a day are best.
4. Even if the stimulus is great: Avoid excessive alcohol consumption. Alcohol puts an extra strain on your body (and we don’t just mean the liver).
5. First keep your daily rhythm. So don’t stay up longer than usual – and don’t sleep until noon. Your health will thank you.