Many people are gearing up for their big summer vacation, but are you making sure to remember your health? Kate Boos, MD, a family medicine physician with Avera, explains what you can do ahead of your trip to ensure that viruses and sickness don’t derail your fun.
Are there steps you can take to help prevent sickness while traveling?
I think the best thing to think about is what will improve your immune system, because really we're relying on our immune system to fight off any infections or exposures we have. So making sure you're well rested before you leave and try and stay well rested on your travels, staying well hydrated, good nutrition like fruits, vegetables, proteins, just to keep all your vitamin levels good.
Do immunity boosters actually work?
I don't think over-the-counter medications and supplements are necessarily going to make a huge difference. I also don't think they're going to hurt anything. So I would always encourage you get those vitamins and immune boosting nutrients from your diet. But if that's going to be lacking and you feel better if you take some vitamin C or immune boosting medication before you go, as long as you're generally healthy that shouldn't cause you any harm.
What can you do to help prevent motion sickness?
Different things can cause people to be motion sick. Sometimes they're on a boat and they're having kind of a side-to-side swing. Other times it's car related, so just going around twists and turns. Probably the best thing to do if you have motion sickness from a car is make sure you're sitting where you have good ventilation or have the window open and that you can see. Your brain and your vision are coordinated with what you're expecting around each turn. Otherwise with motion sickness there are some over-the-counter medications that can help; Dramamine is one of those. The downside is they can make you a little fatigued. So you just need to be careful that you are prepared for that. And then I'd be careful mixing that with alcohol just because that dual effect can make you extra tired.
When traveling to a new time zone, should I use melatonin to help me sleep?
When you're traveling across time zones that does make it tricky. I think the best you can stick with your normal sleep cycle before you go, the better. Again, staying well rested ahead of time, staying well hydrated before you travel. Once you get to the new time zone it's best to just commit to the new time zone. So if you arrive and it's daytime where you have arrived, stick with daytime activities. The melatonin I think is a reasonable option. It's helping to reset your normal sleep cycle. It's not a medication that I have too many concerns with using. It mixes well generally with most medications. Usually you're looking at like one to two milligrams to start with and you can titrate up from there if you need to.
Any other suggestions to stay healthy on vacation?
As much as you can plan ahead of time. Again, getting your good sleep, your good nutrition, your good fluids before you go. Keeping those things front of mind while you're traveling. Try and stick with a good schedule. If you're going to be out where it's sunny and hot trying to stay well hydrated, sunscreen minimum SPF 30 on all your sun exposed areas. I would say some good things just to travel with include sunscreen and bug spray if you're going to be in a buggy area. If you have a touchy stomach when you travel, maybe take some Imodium or some Pepto-Bismol, I would say Tylenol and ibuprofen. Those are easy and generally safe for most people. If you have a condition where your doctor said avoid Tylenol or ibuprofen, then of course listen to that. But otherwise that will take care of most travel aches and pains and mild cold and cough symptoms.
Learn more about travel health tips and other primary care topics at Avera.
