THE FAMILY MEDICINE CHEST

It is always worth having a few basic medicines and dressings available in the cupboard at home, but kept out of reach of children. The following are always useful:

Paracetamol

Good for headaches, colds, sore throats, and painful bruises or sprains and relief of pain or fever in young children.

Available as tablets or Mixture

Ibuprofen

Good anti-inflammatory; for toothache, backache, bruises and sprains. Should be taken with food and needs to be taken regularly for full anti-inflammatory action.

May interact with other drugs; ask the chemist if you are on other medication.

Vapour Rub

Useful for young children with snuffly noses, or dry coughs. Rub on clothing or bedding.

Calamine Lotion

Useful for dabbing on insect bites, stings and sunburn

Adhesive Plasters

For protecting minor cuts and grazes after cleaning.

Cotton Wool

For cleaning cuts and grazes

Thermometer

For checking body temperature

Tweezers

For removing splinters and thorns

Rehydration sachets

To replace the essential sugars and salts lost during diarrhoea in children and adults. Mix with clean water.

USING OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICINES

Many minor ailments can be managed by using over the counter (OTC) medicines.

For help and advice in using OTC medicines, look at medicine-chest.co.uk.