Wellness tourism is a fast rising industry in the world with millions of tourists opting to travel overseas for different kinds of wellness therapies. The concept of wellness tourism is very clear. It refers to overall process of maintaining a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit. In addition, it helps in promoting good health and wellbeing pertains to individual crossing boundaries on a frequent basis. It is very important for individuals opting for wellness therapies overseas to look out for pre-travel advice in order to avoid any hassles later on during the trip.
Wellness tourists should not avoid the fact that they would be traveling to a foreign destination to seek therapeutic help for their problems. That is why they need to be careful about falling victim to any other illness or ailment during their wellness trip. Pre-travel considerations and preparations are necessary for any individual thinking of traveling overseas for wellness care.
Following points would describe necessary precautions and preparations that a wellness tourist would need to take in order to avoid contracting a potentially serious illness or diseases in a foreign location.
- Various studies have shown that carrying a first aid medicine kit along with the other travel essentials for a wellness trip can be beneficial for the concerned individual.
- Government and non-government organizations are working hard to spread awareness about pre-travel medicines in various destinations, among people who travel to international locations for seeking benefits from alternative therapies.
- Potential wellness tourists should follow the set guidelines of professional CAM therapists in a wellness tourism destination n order to remain fit and healthy throughout the wellness trip.
- There are many issues pertaining to hygiene in developing countries. Some of the most common examples of pre travel medicines and practices include the treatment and prevention of conditions like dengue, malaria, yellow fever, HIV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid fever, cholera, and several other bacterial and viral infections. Therefore, all potential wellness tourists should be aware of the different kinds of travel related illnesses they can contract during a trip.
Guide for travel medicine preparation in ensuring a fruitful wellness trip
The last few years has seen the concept of travel medicine transforming into a multidisciplinary subject that takes into account several aspects of international travel, including infectious diseases, proper immunization procedures, and tropical medications. Wellness tourists should note down and prepare a detailed travel medicinal kit along with the other travel related essentials that they would take with them to the specific wellness tourism destination.
By combining the essential travel medicine advice with preventive and precautionary measures, the wellness tourists would be able to enjoy their trip to a wellness tourism destination, and be safe from potentially serious illnesses and infections.
Wellness tourists must also take into consideration the varying degrees of comfort they would experience in both their home country and the wellness tourism destination they choose to visit. Living in a particular region for a long time would make the human body accustomed to the local conditions in that area, meaning the body would develop immunity to several viruses, bacteria and harmful organisms that are local to that specific region, tourists on the other hand, are unlikely to possess such immunity and must take precautions to avoid these problems.
Wellness tourists can also get in touch with organizations like the WHO (World Health Organization) and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in order to gain access to detailed databases providing information about all kinds of travel related illnesses and travel medicines for wellness tourists. Organizations like the ASTMH (American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene) and the ISTM (International Society for Travel Medicine) also offer up-to-date information about travel medicines and safe practices related to the same. These organizations cater to a wide range of wellness tourists and their queries regarding travel medicine, thereby making it easier for these individuals to plan their wellness trip properly.
The World Wide Web makes it is possible for potential wellness tourists to find several public health organizations dedicated to assessing travel related health issues and publishing the findings on their websites. Browsing through these websites would enable a wellness tourist gain useful information on the different kinds of travel related ailments one can experience during a wellness trip to a foreign destination. Libraries contain several books with information on different illnesses, and diseases that are predominant in a specific region or country.
It is advisable to get in touch with the physician at the wellness center in order to receive treatment for local infections and illnesses. This is the best way to reduce any health related risks faced by the tourist as well as accompanying friends and family members.
The process of preparing properly for pre-travel medical considerations involves two steps discussed below.
Step 1:
The first step in pre-travel medical preparation deals with the use of drugs and vaccinations that would offer protection from region/country specific illnesses and diseases. Wellness tourists must make it a point to consult a local physician at least five weeks before their wellness trip to a foreign destination. Doing so would enable these individuals to get enough time to boost their immune system in order to handle unfavorable reactions to vaccinations. A local physician would be the best option when it comes letting an individual know about the correct kind of vaccination needed to keep the former safe from illness and diseases pertaining to the chosen destination.
Wellness tourists should carry along medical certificates pertaining to specific health conditions or ailments they face when traveling to wellness tourism destination. This would enable the therapist at the wellness center to gauge the individual’s body condition and customize the therapy. Some countries also require wellness tourists to carry specific medical certificates with them while entering the country.
Step 2:
The second step in pre-travel medical preparation involves preparing a detailed list of the all the curative and preventive medications that an individual needs to carry long during the wellness trip. Here again, a local physician would be the best person to prescribe the necessary medications based on the individual’s body condition, medical history, and current medical status. Carry along a detailed list of routine prescriptions with the generic names of the medications and their doses as well.
Essential items to carry in your medical kit during the wellness trip
As many people from developed countries are traveling to developing countries for wellness care. Traveling to a developing nation or a third world country, the body is exposed to other forms of bacteria and viruses. Wellness tourists must carry a proper first aid medicine kit along with the essential things in order to meet medical emergencies. They must make sure that their travel medical kits have enough supplies to deal with minor injuries, handle infectious illnesses predominant in the region, and manage their current medical condition for the entire duration of the trip.
You must make sure that the travel medical kit contains all of the essential medications needed to handle unpleasant situations while traveling. Some of these medications include:
Prescription and Thermometer
You must include your normal prescription medicines in the travel medical kit in order to deal with their existing health conditions. These would also include the medicines prescribed by a local physician in order to prevent travel related ailments. In addition, you should also carry a thermometer to determine the degree of fever. It would enable you to get the right medicine to handle the condition.
Pain or Fever Reducers
Pain reducers offer temporary relief from body pain, fever, headaches, mild diarrhea, heartburn, motion sickness etc. You can obtain it without the prescription of a physician. It is also important for you to discuss with the local physician about the different OTC medicines you can take along during the trip.
Sunscreen Lotions and Creams:
It is possible to develop skin rashes and burns owing to increased exposure to the sun’s rays during the trip. Wellness tourists must make it a point to carry along plenty of sunscreen lotions and creams to get adequate protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays.
Hand Sanitizer
You cannot find hand wash and water everywhere. Therefore, sanitizer gel is very useful to maintain proper hygiene in strange location. If you are very particular about hygiene and cleanliness, then you would definitely need to include a hand sanitizer gel in their travel medical kits.
Spare Syringes:
Wellness tourists can choose to carry along a spare set of syringes that can help you handle medical emergencies at the host destination.
Adhesive Bandages and Antibiotic Creams
Adhesive bandages are the best options to treat small cuts and wounds. They offer adequate protection against secondary infections. Antibiotic creams are very useful in treating cuts or injuries and protect you from secondary infections. You can carry ophthalmic creams along to treat eye infections.
Antacid Preparations:
These are available as either tablets or syrups, and it is easier to carry tablets in the kit. However, an individual may opt for the form that suits him/her best.
Antibiotic Creams:
These are very useful in treating cuts and injuries, and protect them from secondary infections.
Face mask
Post pandemic travel for wellness needs extra precaution. Never forget to carry few sets of disposable masks which you will need at every step of your travel. Also you need to ensure proper disposal of these masks so as not to trigger spreading of any infection.
Sanitizing wipes
This is also a must inclusion in your travel kit. You will be able to sanitize any contact point yourself without depending on others. While taking any treatment in spas and resorts, you can use these wipes as additional precaution.
A travel medicine kit can contains other important items like analgesics to treat body pain, antihistamines to treat insect bites, stings and allergies, throat lozenges to treat sore throats, common cold and flu tablets, motion sickness tablets, antiseptic lotions and crepe bandages.
Tweezers:
These are great tools for removing miniscule splinters. They can also help open caps on other medical packs. So carrying along a pair of tweezers in the travel medicine kit makes good sense.
Cultural and religious considerations to take into account during a wellness trip
When planning wellness travel to a foreign destination, one of the most important things to take into consideration is the cultural and religious issues that you may have to follow in the selected destination. Hence, it is necessary for wellness tourists to understand the basic cultural and religious values of that region or country. Different countries have different religion and cultural values.
Researching the cultural values and religion differences of the destination can therefore abolish cultural issues for the wellness tourist upon landing in the country. Below we have some important factors that need to be discussed by a wellness tourist when it comes to understanding about the different cultural predispositions.
- The cultural variety between two countries may arise due to several factors, such as geography, nationality, ethnicity, religion, race and language. In addition, when it comes to understanding the cultural values of a specific country, three things are most important for both the destination nation and tourists to understand and that is, religion, clothing and food habits.
- A clear understanding of the different cultural values in the destination country would help wellness tourists to gain higher satisfaction out of the therapies. Some people travel almost half way across the world for wellness care therapies. Hence, it becomes very important that they understand the cultural beliefs of the wellness destination they choose beforehand.
- Every country in the world has its own religious and national holidays. It is essential to make a note of all the national and religious holidays of chosen country before visiting it for wellness care purposes. It would be beneficial for an individual opting to travel to another destination for the same purpose can search online for the list of official holidays in the specific region in order to shun any travel related problems.
- Several banks, stores and wellness centers would remain closed on national and religious holidays and this will create a problem by postponing your travel plans. Therefore, it would be wise to collect information about the host destinations’ religious practices before traveling there. This would avoid cultural shocks and doubts to an extent.
