Medicines To Keep At Home For Children
Minor illness, injury or pains are common when there are children in the house and running to a pharmacy for every minor illness gets impossible. One must prepare themselves a well stock cabinet to treat such illness or injuries. With Covid numbers increasing in India, your kid’s medicine cabinet needs to stocked-up, in case of any emergencies.
You must always clear your medicine cabinet of old prescriptions and expired medications because you can’t take that risk with kids. Make sure you do this every three months and find a local centre near you that can dispose of the old medications. You must always follow dosage instructions as shown on medication packaging.
Here is a list of common medications one must keep at home for children that can treat a range of illnesses, minor injuries and pains.
List of emergency instructions
Your medicine cabinet or first aid kit must have a list of emergency phone numbers like a family doctor who knows your child’s medical history, your pharmacist who is aware of the medicines your child takes, medical instructions and allergy remedies along with the required dosage. This list must also have all the specifications that must be taken care of in case of an emergency. You can buy medicine online in India, so now if you don’t have any medicine from the below list, you can stock them from the comfort of your home. This list will act as a guide for a person who is unaware of your child’s medical condition or what medicines must be given to you in case of an emergency.
Paracetamol
With the pandemic and rising infections, paracetamol is a must-have in every first aid box. Paracetamol eases pain and reduces high-temperature fever for both adults and children. Paracetamol is available in form of tablets, liquid and soluble or melt-in-mouth tablets which can be consumed by children. You must consult a doctor or pharmacist or read the dosage instructions on the medicine packaging because it can be harmful if taken more than the consumable amount.
Anti-inflammatory painkillers
These painkillers are used to reduce inflammation during injuries, muscle aches and sprains or can relieve period pains as well. A prescription is required to buy a painkiller from a pharmacist, but there are some non-steroidal painkillers that one can purchase without a prescription. Sometimes, these painkillers are used to reduce fever as well.
Anti-inflammatory painkillers must not be consumed by people who suffer from stomach or duodenal ulcers and must never be consumed on empty stomachs. Anti-inflammatory painkillers are available in gel form as well, which can, if applied directly to the area of pain and is used to cure joint pain or rheumatoid arthritis or degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis) or some sort of muscle injuries.
Antihistamine
These medicines are used to treat allergies like itching or hives, runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing. Antihistamine can reduce the effect of a wasp or bee sting. This medicine can have side effects like dizziness, drowsiness and dry mouth and hence must be consumed after a doctor’s prescription only. Doctors suggest that if someone is suffering from an itchy condition like eczema or chickenpox, Antihistamines must be taken at bedtime. These are available as a cream or tablets and can be used as per the requirements.
Decongestant or cough syrups
The common cold is something that gets better with no treatment within a week or 10 days, but the cough is something that lingers for a while. Decongestant nasal spray and cough syrup helps in treating such symptoms and is designed specially to relieve cough. These decongestants minimize the symptom of cold and immune your body to additional cold-fighting perks. Decongestant is a must-have if you have kids because kids catch a common cold soon and you don’t want your kid to face congestion at such an early age.
Antacids
Antacids are used to treat heartburn, and indigestion helps in neutralizing the acid content of the stomach. There are various types of antacids like sodium bicarbonate, magnesium trisilicate, magnesium hydroxide or aluminium therefore, always go for antacid whose composition has some of these elements. If your kid needs antacid regularly, discuss with a doctor before starting because antacid has side effects like diarrhea or constipation, stomach cramps, vomiting and flatulence.
Antiseptic cream
If you have a kid in your house, then you are well aware of how prone children are too minor injuries, cuts, and scrapes. Antiseptic creams are easy to apply and are a convenient option to kill germs that are cause infection in minor cuts, burns or scrapes. It supports the healing process and is a quick treatment on the go. All you need to remember is that you must gently clean the affected area before applying antiseptic cream and then cover it with a sterile bandage after the creams are set or dry out.
Hydrocortisone cream
Hydrocortisone cream is a mild steroid cream that is used to reduce inflammation that occurs on the skin due to contact dermatitis, insect sting, and eczema. This cream shouldn’t be used until prescribed by the doctor and always go for the composition as prescribed. It is used to soothe dry or itchy skin and is a must-have with the kids because kids have a tendency of playing outdoors and such issues are natural to occur.
Other useful items
Your medical kit must have other useful items like bandages of all sizes, plus gauze or sterile tape. You must also have a thermometer for temperature reading and heat and ice pack which can provide relief for everything from headaches and sprains to injuries and sore muscles. An antibiotic cleaner like Dettol or Savlon is also very much important as they are used to wash off the cuts and scrapes and clean the wound so that you can conduct further treatment of the injury.
Conclusion
Along with all this, keep an umbrella of insurance coverage. At this point at a time, with COVID-19, one can never predict how a minor injury can turn up to become a major health issue. Medical insurance will provide you with financial protection and will provide coverage against critical illness.
Always remember that your pharmacist is the best source of information regarding medicines and mild illness. If consulting a doctor is not possible, ask your pharmacist to help you out with the medicines but take no medicine without a professional consultancy. It might spike up the condition and create furthermore trouble.
