Rummaging around through your bathroom medicine cabinet searching for your medication is a hassle. The best cure for a disorganized medicine cabinet is prevention instead of being caught unprepared for the flu, minor injuries or daily prescription medication.
You should organize your medicine cabinet at least once a year, discarding all old or unused prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, ointments and medicated creams. If there’s no expiration date and its condition looks old or damaged, discard it. We recommend bringing expired prescriptions to your pharmacy where we can safely dispose of your drugs. Putting medications in the garbage or flushing them down the toilet is a hazard to the environment.
If you have a new prescription or over-the-counter medications without expiration dates, mark the date of purchase on the containers.
Exam the Medicine Cabinet:
Start by examining contents in the medicine cabinets that require organization. Take note of the package sizes and types of health care products. You can determine if there are personal toiletries that could be stored elsewhere other than the main cabinet.
Essentials:
Once the medicine cabinet’s contents have been pared down to health-care and first-aid essentials, make a list of products needed to stock the medicine cabinet. Since most medicine cabinets are only 3- to 4-inches deep, look for narrow organizer trays to fit this limited space.
Choose clear acrylic, narrow, short-sided containers that will hold the various miscellaneous medicine supplies like bulb syringes, thermometers, measuring cups, etc. Medication or first aid items that are not used regularly can be placed on higher shelves in their own organized containers.
Most medicine cabinets also have limited space between shelves for storing large bottles of antiseptics. Keep limited amounts of these items in refillable smaller leak-proof bottles with contents identified.
Children versus Adult Medication:
To keep yourself organized, keep children-infant medication separate from adult medication. If a sick child awakens you in the middle of the night, you want to make sure they receive the right medication. Separating will avoid having to double-check to make sure you’re grabbing the age-appropriate medication. Separating them can make your life much easier for parents with the middle of the night interruptions!
Prescription Medications:
To keep medicine cabinets organized, post an erase board on the inside of the door with a message reminding all household members to throw away empty medicine bottles and packaging after a year. You can also use the board to keep a shopping list of items in need of replenishment, as well as reminders to take medication.
Pill Organizers:
Using a pillbox is a great way to keep your medication organized and help avoid missing a dose or doses. It’s estimated that up to 50% of medicines for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease and asthma are not taken as prescribed.
This can be due to:
• An elderly person living alone
• Relatives of an elderly person not having the time to check medication daily
• Misunderstanding what was supposed to be taken
• Confusion over what medication has already been taken or should be taken throughout the day
• Simply forgetting. This is more frequent surprisingly for users that need to take large doses of medicine every day. One reason for this is because of the mess caused by so many medication boxes; so, they are often put away out of sight and mind.
These issues can be decreased or entirely eliminated by using a pillbox to organize your daily and weekly medication. Once a week, you should sit down and spend time carefully organizing the dose, so it’s easier throughout the week.
Get Organized:
By organizing your medication cabinet or adding a pill organizer for housing your daily, weekly medications, you will know exactly what to take when for what reason and what day. This will help you to have peace of mind for you and your family.
