Atchim! Saúde! — Atchoo! Bless you!
This is how it starts! A couple of sneezes, a bit of a sore throat and next thing you know, it’s time for medicine and bed if you’re lucky or a visit to the doctor if it’s more serious.
Catching a cold is bad enough when you’re in your native country, but the distress really exacerbates when you’re abroad.
When you’re visiting Brazil, it’s important to know that in the major urban centers, you’ll be able to find assistance in English. You can also rely on pharmacists when all you need is medicine for minor aches or maladies. Pharmacies in Brazil are as big and complete as they are in the US, especially in big cities.
Let’s review some useful words and phrases you can use in case you need them on a trip to a Portuguese speaking country.
Farmácia is a pharmacy, farmacêutico a pharmacist and drogaria a drugstore.
Example: Nós vamos à farmácia comprar aspirinas. We’re going to the pharmacy to buy some aspirins.
A doctor’s office is um consultório medico and pronto-socorro is the emergency room.
Example: O médico não estava no consultório então ele foi ao pronto-socorro. The doctor was not in so he went to the emergency room.
Dor means pain or ache. Here are some other related words.
| dor de cabeça | headache |
| dor de dente | toothache |
| dor de barriga | stomachache |
| dor de garganta | sore throat |
| dor nas costas | backache |
The verb to hurt is doer.
Example: Meu braço dói. My arm hurts.
Estar com (literally, to be with) is used in the following expressions:
| estar com febre | to have a fever |
| estar com tontura | to be dizzy |
| estar com tosse | to have a cough |
| estar doente | to be sick, ill |
| estar mal | to feel bad |
| estar resfriado (a) | to have a cold |
| estar gripado (a) | to have the flu |
| estar inflamado (a) | to be inflamed |
The verbs to sneeze is espirrar and to cough is tossir.
Example: O meu filho espirrou e tossiu a noite toda. My son sneezed and coughed all night.
Some of the following words and phrases will also be helpful when going to the doctor.
| tomar remédio | to take medicine |
| tomar líquidos | to drink liquids |
| tomar injeção | to get an injection |
| a receita médica | a medical prescription |
| contraindicação | side effects |
| tirar / medir a temperatura | to take the temperature |
| a consulta médica | doctor’s appointment |
But because when you travel, you want to be as healthy as a horse or saudável como um cavalo, be sure to follow these recommendations:
| tome vitamina C | take C vitamin |
| não fume | do not smoke |
| não beba bebidas alcoólicas em demasia | do not drink alcoholic beverages in excess |
| durma oito horas por noite | sleep eight hours each night |
| faça exercícios físicos | do physical exercises |
| coma bastante frutas e verduras | eat a lot of fruits and vegetables |
Cuide-se! Take care!