Every family has some form of medicine cabinet to store these medicines. However, as time goes by, the storage time of drugs will be prolonged, some drugs will deteriorate, the efficacy will be weakened, and even harmful; Misuse of different drugs will also increase medication errors. Therefore, the medicine cabinet should be cleaned regularly, and all drugs should be evaluated to avoid medication risks. The following 5 steps can be followed to clean the medicine cabinet.

1. Put all the drugs in one place.

Collect all prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, dietary supplements, and creams, ointments, nasal sprays, eye drops, etc. Discard drugs that are not stored in the original container, have no instructions, or cannot read information.

2. Screen out the old or no longer used prescription drugs.

Separate the prescription drugs currently being taken from those no longer taken or expired. The period of use of drugs shall be subject to the period of validity marked on the drug packaging bottle.

3. Determine expired OTC drugs.

Check the expiration date of all over-the-counter drugs. Generally, the expiration date is printed on the label, bottom or neck of the bottle. Box charge is usually printed on one end of the box. For face cream or ointment, check the curl at the bottom of the tube. It is recommended to discard expired or near expired drugs.

4. Safely dispose of expired drugs.

Safe disposal of expired drugs can reduce accidental poisoning, water pollution and dangerous drugs for children or pets. Ideally, prescription and over-the-counter drugs should be put in a bag and sent to a safe disposal point/drug recycling point, or thrown into a hazardous waste bin. Tablets and capsules should not be flushed down the sink or toilet. Face cream and ointment can generally be thrown into the harmful garbage can. In order to ensure the safety of personal information, it is necessary to clear the personal information on the drug label before discarding the old drug bottle.

5. Properly store unexpired drugs.

Ensure that medicines and dietary supplements used regularly are stored separately from those used occasionally. They can be stored in two separate, clearly marked containers for future use. Secondly, store the medicine in a cool and dry medicine cabinet, away from heat, humidity and direct sunlight, so as not to affect the quality of the medicine, and do not let children and pets touch it.

The information is from the Internet for reference only