Stock the perfect family medicine cabinet
Make sure you have all the essentials for aches, pains and first aid needs.
Is your medicine cabinet a tip-top first aid resource or a dusty resting place for 15-year-old bottles of sunblock? It’s usually when we feel ill that we reach for the medicine and find it’s out of date.
Once in a while it’s important to do a stock check. But what are the essentials you should make sure you have to meet your family’s needs?
For common ailments
A selection of paracetamol- or ibuprofen-based medicine is the number one piece of kit for any family – not only do they ease headaches, back pain and other ills, they also help to reduce a high temperature. Make sure you have the right strength for all the different ages in your family, and keep an eye on use-by-dates. Keep a couple of measuring spoons in the same place so you don’t have to hunt around for one with a grizzling child on your hip.
Cold remedies usually combine a painkiller with a decongestant, and often some caffeine as well. Make sure you don’t take anything else at the same time or you could risk accidentally over-dosing yourself.
Cough mixtures come in two types – expectorants, usually marked ‘for chesty coughs’ and suppressants, marked ‘for tickly coughs’.
Antihistamines are good to have in stock even if no one in the family has hayfever or allergies – nasty insect bites that are very swollen and painful will react well to a single dose of antihistamine – again make sure you keep a range of strengths appropriate for different ages.
For first aid
In an emergency, you need quick access to a first aid kit, so make sure your box is well supplied and replenished whenever something is used. Don’t take any chances - major injuries will warrant a trip to casualty or even an ambulance call, as will any loss of consciousness, or temporary confusion which might be a symptom of concussion. But there are plenty of knocks and scrapes which can be treated at home. Here’s what every mum should have to hand:
Antiseptic cream
Plasters in all shapes and sizes
Bandages
Gauze and adhesive tape, and scissors to cut them to size
Heat pack/cool pack
Surgical spirit
Tweezers for splinters
Optrex and an eye bath
A torch and batteries
Cling film is very helpful in protecting burns from infection and moisture loss