kyypakaus - necessary and where to buy?

(sorry, if i spelt it wrong, my finish is purely spoken..)

i remember my parents always buying a %26#39;kyypakaus%26#39; (probably a strong antihistamine?) right after arriving in finland, so we%26#39;d have one in our mökki just in case somebody got bitten by a snake.

we, a family with two little ones, will be spending two weeks in the country(side) this summer and i wonder if we%26#39;d need to get one. we%26#39;ll be staying about an hour from jyväskyla, i.e. a doctor/hospital, so we%26#39;d need to be able to give the first medical help ourselves. (apart from the usual precautions against snake bites, of course!).

would i get one at the pharmacy?

thank you!

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Hi!

Kyypakkaus is good to have if you are bitten by a snake. It can also be used if you are bitten by bees or wasps and you get a strong reaction from it.

You can buy it at the pharmacy.

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I%26#39;ve read that they%26#39;re virtually useless. The antihistamine isn%26#39;t strong or it would be on prescription. In any case, the bite of the common adder is no more dangerous than a wasp sting and it%26#39;s much rarer.

You will not be an hour from a doctor if you%26#39;re within 60 minutes of Jyväskylä. It%26#39;s not the dark side of the moon and there are smaller towns around with all the usual services of civilisation.

Still, if it makes you feel happier, by all means get yourself a kyypakkaus. Pharmacies carry these.

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I%26#39;ve spent numerous summers in a cabin. Seen (and killed) a few snakes, but never been bitten by any. In the history of the cabin there are no incidents to any of the visitors. I would say it is quite uncommon to be bitten by a snake. They scare easily and avoid any noice. The one venomous snake we have, %26#39;kyy=viper%26#39; isn%26#39;t in the first place that dangerous.

Save your money and use it wisely to get mosquito repellent, that%26#39;s much more vital when staying in the country side.

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The snake in question is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipera_berus

Not really dangerous for adults but small children could be seriously affected by a bite.

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%26gt;Not really dangerous for adults but small children could be seriously affected by a bite.

Only in cases of severe allergy or if the bite is in an awkward place such as the tongue (hard to imagine how THAT could happen), in which case the mild antihistamine in Kyypakkaus is not going to be any help.