Building a family medicine cabinet the right way

Illness is something no one wants, but no one goes their whole life without getting sick. Instead of wishing for good health, find ways to prevent illness and strengthen your immune system, and prepare some medicines so that you can intervene promptly and quickly fight off illness.

You can easily buy (non-prescription) medicines at pharmacies, but that doesn’t mean you can just go out and buy them at any time. The best way is to buy medicines in advance and keep them in your family medicine cabinet. But what medicine should you buy? Many families have very large medicine cabinets containing everything from balm to python oil and bear bile, but in the end, they still lack this and that, so when they have a stomachache or headache, they still have to go out to find medicine.

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1. How to build a family medicine cabinet?

Where should I put my medicine cabinet? You see in many movies, people just go to the bathroom to open the medicine cabinet, but that is completely wrong. The bathroom is absolutely not an ideal place to put a family medicine cabinet because there is often a lot of steam, humidity and warmth in there, which can easily cause the medicine to lose quality and go bad. So where should I put my medicine cabinet?

The answer is anywhere with a stable temperature, cool and away from direct sunlight; if you have small children, this medicine cabinet must be high up, out of reach of children and have a lock. However, do not put the medicine cabinet in a place that is too difficult to access. Clean the medicine cabinet and the surrounding area at least once a year. Arrange the medicine cabinet neatly and scientifically so that when needed, it is available, avoiding having to empty the entire cabinet to get the pill you need in the middle of the night.

Let go:

• Throw away expired medications. If you don't see the expiration date, throw them away after 6 months. Expired medications will no longer cure your illness and can even cause more harm, especially if they accidentally fall into the hands of children;

• Discard medicines whose packaging, blister packs, or bottles are damaged, cracked, or no longer have the original packaging (you need to keep and store medicines in their original packaging to absolutely avoid using the wrong medicine);

• Discard any medicine that has changed color or any tablets that appear to have turned into powder, or any liquid that appears cloudy or has precipitated;

• You should also be careful when disposing of old pills. Some people suggest flushing them down the toilet to avoid children or pets finding them, but this also raises some concerns about the aquatic environment; if you can be sure that your children or pets will not go near the trash, it is best to wrap up the pills and throw them away.

Please add

• Remember to replenish necessary medications. Many people often forget to replenish new medications after cleaning out their medicine cabinets and throwing away things that have expired;

• For liquid medicine bottles, choose bottles with “child-proof” caps. Prepare medicines specifically formulated for children, rather than buying medicines for adults and then arbitrarily reducing the dosage when giving them to your child;

• Make a list of medicines and medical equipment to buy according to your family's needs. You don't need to buy and store high blood pressure medicine if no one in your family is at risk or has a history of high blood pressure.

2. What should be in your medicine cabinet?

It is best to consult your doctor about the medicine before choosing to buy it; and then, when using it, you need to carefully read the medicine label, ingredients and instructions for use - this is extremely important, especially for medicines that can be bought without a prescription and medicines for children. In addition, you also need to pay attention to the possible side effects when taking the medicine to be prepared in advance.

12 basic medicines that you should have in your home include:

1. Pain relievers, fever reducers, anti-inflammatory drugs (non-Steroids), including Paracetamol, Tylenol, Aspirin... Each type of drug has a different dosage, composition, and level of effectiveness; not only that, active ingredients such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen in these drugs are also common ingredients in cough, cold, allergy drugs... so you need to read the drug label carefully before using it with other drugs to avoid accidentally taking an overdose.

2. Cold and cough medicines and cough syrups are widely available at pharmacies and do not require a prescription, but they also have many side effects so you should consult your doctor, especially before giving them to children or pregnant women.

Experts recommend that you stop using traditional mercury thermometers and switch to safer electronic thermometers (Photo: Getty Images)

3. Medical equipment: A thermometer is essential to check and monitor the temperature of family members when they have a fever. A dropper, a spoon or a standard cup to measure medicine is also necessary because the teaspoon you usually use is not always accurate. Hot/cold compresses help relieve abdominal pain, reduce swelling, and lower fever. You also need a blood pressure monitor, a nasal aspirator, a fever-reducing patch, clean scissors, tweezers, etc.

4. Green oil and creams, gels that help relieve pain (back, legs, shoulders...) such as Salonpas.

5. Antiseptics and antibiotic ointments to prevent infection from scratches and to clean medical instruments when needed.

6. Cotton, bandages, gauze, and bandages of various sizes are also necessary to clean and cover your wound, avoiding dust and bacteria from outside.

7. Eye drops, nose drops, ear drops, saline solution...

8. Allergy medication, burn medication/cream.

9. Creams/medicines to treat and prevent insect bites; Vaseline, ointment to help heal chapped skin and lips or to apply a thin layer on the nose to reduce pain and scratching caused by using tissues when having a cold or runny nose (but make sure not to apply it inside the baby's nose).

10. Digestive tract medications (diarrhea, constipation, bloating, indigestion, etc.), activated charcoal, oresol, etc.

11. Each member's personal medications are stored according to that person's medical history (medication for asthma, sinus, high blood pressure, menstrual pain, etc.) as well as medications that each member is currently taking by prescription - these medications must be kept in a separate compartment, in a box labeled with that member's name.

12. Stick or hang next to the medicine cabinet instructions for handling emergencies such as burns, strokes, etc. Stick a list of emergency phone numbers, hospital phone numbers, and family doctor numbers so you can call for urgent information. You should also write down your own address and phone number to avoid situations where you are flustered and cannot think clearly.

3. Be especially careful with items commonly found in family medicine cabinets:

• Aspirin: You should never give aspirin to children without a doctor's prescription because this drug is associated with the dangerous Reye's syndrome, which can be fatal in young children. And not only for children, Aspirin should also be used with caution in adults.

• Mercury thermometer: Pediatricians recommend replacing mercury thermometers with electronic thermometers because old thermometers can be dangerous (both physically and chemically) when broken.

Note that the family medicine cabinet is only used to treat minor symptoms and cannot replace long-term treatment; if there are strange signs or you have taken medicine a few times but the disease is not cured, you need to see a doctor.

Regularly checking your medicine cabinet is a simple way to “control” minor aches and pains, and a simple way to keep your family safer and healthier. Pay attention!

According to (Webtretho)- PC