Traditional medicine remains with us, though its modern forms are easy to overlook. For example, quinine was the default treatment for malaria for centuries, while Artemisia is the future of malaria treatment until we have a vaccine. Willow bark has morphed into mass produced aspirin, while other herbal medicines are complementary treatments until they’re found more effective such as the Pacific yew tree extract that’s now a bestselling breast cancer treatment.
However, not everything can be treated with herbs and holistic treatments. Yet many of the benefits of holistic treatment remain true no matter where you’re getting treated. This is where the right healthcare is key to remaining healthy.
Good, Private Physicians
A private physician can see you the same day in many cases. This is invaluable if you were just able to land a cheap pair of international tickets. You don’t want to go on that juggle tour without the right vaccinations or stock of medications. A good private travel clinic will take the time to ask about the medications you’re already taking and conditions you suffer from now so that they don’t prescribe travel meds that may make you sick while in another country.
Supportive Care When Ill
There are horror stories of people who contracted diseases and parasitic infections abroad only to have it dismissed as a series of garden variety complaints when they returned home. Intestinal worms dismissed as food poisoning and gas until the person develops a sepsis or severe anemia. Or they’ve contracted tuberculosis or an uncommon infect that isn’t treated until their fifth specialist can come up with an answer, and the patient suffered for months because it took weeks to get referrals between doctors. Or they simply deteriorated because it took ages to get bloodwork and diagnostic tests done.
This is why you want to work with a private clinic that can give you supportive, thorough care when you return. The best travel clinics will give you a checkup when you return so that any unwanted passengers can be addressed as soon as possible. Expert advice will result in appropriate treatment for the disease or parasite instead of treating the symptoms and hoping you get better.
Detailed, Expert Advice
Almost any doctor’s office can give you vaccinations and anti-diarrheal medication. Travel clinics can do better than this. Experts should be able to review your travel itinerary and health records and recommend medications and vaccinations for the areas you are actually visiting. That’s invaluable in the cases where you’ll be visiting remote or exotic locations that require more than anti-malarial drugs and water purification tablets. You could also get advice on how to pick up allergy medications and essentials when on an extended trip abroad.
consider visiting a travel clinic before you go to live in a foreign country so that you can get advice on how to get proper care at the destination. It may be learning about the over-the-counter remedies available abroad to replace your prescription or knowing in advance that your preferred pain reliever is prescription only in the United States.
