Medical Supplies You Should Keep Handy While Traveling

In the midst of travel preparations, when transportation options, lodging plans, and expectations of exciting activities occupy your mind, it is easy to overlook the importance of bringing along a well-thought-out pack of medical supplies. However, despite its many attractions, traveling carries with it some health risks especially as you move farther and stay away longer from your own residence. That is why a medical kit should be an important inclusion in your luggage when you travel. The type and quantity of medical supplies to carry depend on the length of your trip, your destination, and the kinds of activities you plan to engage in. There are, however, basic medical items that you should always have in your travel medical provisions.

Bring sufficient prescription and non-prescription medication.

If you are under medication for diabetes, hypertension, or any other serious afflictions, it is necessary to have your prescription drugs in your possession at all times while traveling. When traveling abroad, check and comply with the customs policies of your destination country. Another thing you should prepare for is the inevitable encounter with common illnesses that travelers experience. Water, food, environmental conditions, and stress usually leave travelers suffering from diarrhea, fever, cuts, burns, insect bites, stings, and the like. To counteract these unpleasant travel consequences, bring appropriate over-the-counter medications including pain relievers, antihistamines, and antibiotics.

Carry a personalized first aid kit.

Commercial first aid kits for travelers are readily available, but they are often insufficient. To make a first aid kit truly useful in a medical situation, you need to add more to its contents. Make sure it has bandages and sterile gauze, cotton, sutures, needles, syringes, small scissors, tweezers, gels and creams for burns and insect bites, a thermometer, closure strips, water purification tablets, a bottle of antiseptic, and anything else that might come in handy depending on your destination. Along with what's inside, consider the first aid container itself. If you will be doing water activities during your vacation, for example, then it would be wise to bring along a waterproof first-aid kit.

Have room in your bag for miscellaneous health and medical items.

These are the provisions that are too bulky for your first aid kit but are equally important to have around while you travel. When traveling, it is a good idea to have with you some or all of these items: hand and feet sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, medically tested sunscreen, a tube of lip balm, hot and cold compress, and vaso-constrictor or cleansing eye drops. Other items that you might include in your list depending on existing medical conditions include a nebulizer, an inhaler, and allergy shots. For accurate health monitoring while traveling, you may also carry items such as electronic blood pressure monitors, pulse rate gauges, blood sugar monitors, and the like. Finally, mobility aids such as medical crutches, canes, slings, and braces are also useful if you encounter minor injury or if you are hampered by pain while traveling.