If you have a minor healthcare situation in your home, what do you do? Do you have to rush out and buy some over the counter medication? Or, do you just wait and hope that your sickness gets better quickly on its own? If you’re prepared, you will have something that can help you with some of the most basic illnesses and ailments in your own home. Having a medicine cabinet and first aid kit is very useful, and it can make recovering from injury and illness far easier. But what should you include in your medicine cabinet and first aid kit?
Here’s the ultimate shopping list for your medicine cabinet.
Why Have A Medicine Cabinet Set Up?
It is important that you have a medicine cabinet. Often, when you are ill, you may not need to bother going to the doctor. For minor issues such as stomach ache or colds, these will soon pass without the need to take up the doctor’s time, as long as you take over-the-counter medicines.
Another important reason is that the recent pandemic has taught us all to be prepared for every eventuality. If you can’t easily get out for medicines, at least if you have them there at home, you will be able to look after yourself.
Setting Up A Suitable Medicine Cabinet
There are a few simple ground rules that you should have for your medicine cabinet.
Firstly, you shouldn’t hold onto prescription medicines if you no longer need them. You certainly shouldn’t put them in your medicine cabinet and give them to a member of your family because you think they need them. It is important that you only ever take medication that has been prescribed to you specifically for the condition that you have right now.
Secondly, make sure your medicine cabinet is out of reach of any children. If you have children, you should buy your medication in childproof bottles.
Make sure that you regularly check the best before dates on all of your medicines. As things expire, you should dispose of them. It could do you more harm than good to take out of date medicines.
Once a medicine is out of date, be sure and buy a replacement to restock it.
Keep all of your medicines and first aid items in some kind of logical order. You’ll want to be able to find things quickly, not spend ages looking.
What Medicines And First Aid Items Should Be Kept In?
Create a shopping list to fill your medicine cabinet. Here are some essentials that you get:
- Painkillers, including paracetamol, ibuprofen, and aspirin. If you have children, be sure and get special pain medication for your child
- Antihistamines
- Antacids and diarrhea medicine
- uti pain relief
You should also get the following first aid items:
- Plasters
- Triangle bandages
- Eye pads
- Crepe bandages
- Antiseptic cream
- Scissors
- Tweezers
- Sticky tape
- Safety pins
- Eyewash
- Latex gloves
- Alcohol-free wipes
Don’t forget that as you start to use the medicines and first aid kit items in your cabinet, you will need to replace them.