What happens when you get a small cut or bruise? Do you go immediately to the hospital? No, right? Many times in your life you find yourself with “small emergencies” in which it is not necessary to call an ambulance or run to hospitals.
For this reason, it is convenient to have a first-aid kit at hand from which to get the necessary material to solve small ailments, but do you have your first-aid kit properly equipped? This article will give you all the guidelines on what to include in your kits and how to be prepared for small unforeseen events.
Medicines
This section is quite customizable, since each person is a world, and each one has their particular ailments. Below we will detail some of the most common medicines that you can include in your medicine cabinet.
For pain relief, it is important to have pain relievers on hand, but something to keep in mind is that not all pain relievers are suitable for everyone. There are allergies and intolerances that must be taken into account, in addition to the fact that there are some medications that interact with others and can have very different consequences. For this reason, it is important to consult with your doctor to assess which would be the most convenient painkillers for you and your relatives.
Today we live daily with different types of allergies, but most of them are controlled with oral antihistamines . If this is your case, it would be convenient, in addition to having your usual allergy treatment located, to have a reserve box for “emergencies” in the medicine cabinet. It has happened to all of us at some point that we realize that we have run out of certain medication when you are already in your pajamas and getting into bed.
As we have already mentioned, it is interesting to have a box of antihistamines in the medicine cabinet for “emergency” cases, but why not also keep a reserve of your usual medication ? For some pathologies it is very important to take the medication at a certain time, so realizing it at the last moment is quite inopportune. For this reason, it is very convenient to have the necessary medication stored in the medicine cabinet to spend a day without worrying.
Something also very important to include in our medicine cabinet is rescue medications . There are some medications, such as adrenaline for anaphylaxis or salbutamol for acute asthma attacks, which are only used as a rescue, when the situation gets out of control. So if this is your case, you should also include your rescue medication in the kit, to have it located at all times and to be able to act as quickly as possible.
First aid box
This is already becoming more common for everyone, since we are talking about basic material to perform cures.
To start a good cure it is essential to clean the area well, and what better way than using water and hand soap . Obviously this would not be in the medicine cabinet, instead we can usually find physiological saline .
After a good cleaning, the wound can be assessed and see which treatment is the most convenient. Usually, what is most used are antiseptics , such as povidone iodine (the best known brand is Betadine) or chlorhexidine (the best known brand is Cristalmina). If you have to choose between one or the other, I personally recommend chlorhexidine; it is more effective, safer (less allergic reactions) and cheaper.
You can also find yourself facing a burn, whether due to abrasion, accidents in the kitchen or any other type of accident, and in this case, instead of antiseptics, what is used are ointments for burns . Usually, in their composition, they have agents that act against possible infections, so be careful with allergies when choosing which one to put in your medicine cabinet, since it may contain an antibiotic or silver.
Of course, something that can never be missing in a medicine cabinet are gauze, protective dressings, bandages, a plaster and small scissors. It is also convenient to have disposable gloves, both to protect yourself from possible infections and to protect the affected person from external agents that may contaminate the wound.
A thermometer is also essential and, if you are diabetic or hypertensive, also a glucometer or a blood pressure monitor. Keep in mind that in these cases you must know how to interpret the results. And something like this also happens with oximeters (the device that tells you the percentage of oxygen in your blood), if you don’t know how to interpret the data correctly, it can sometimes be more of a problem than a useful tool.
In short, your home medicine cabinet is going to be adapted to your needs and your pathologies, but there are some basic elements that have to be included, yes or yes. Do not forget that the medicine cabinet must be updated (check expirations periodically) and must be replenished every time we spend something. Do not forget to find a suitable place for it, since it must always be out of the reach of children .
