If you end up taking a lot of medicines, it causes stress to keep track of all the medications together. This also increases the risk of mistakes you can make, such as missing a dose or even overdosing on the medicine.
Whether you take a lot of medicines prescribed by your doctor or have over-the-counter medications, it is essential to store the medication accurately to make life easier. In addition, organizing the medication in the right way can help in reducing the errors that a person can perform.
Rather than choosing a proper application such as My Medadvisor, Medisafe, Mango Health, and Dosecast to keep track of their medication, people forget their medicines in kitchen and bathroom cabinets. So, it is necessary to avoid these things and be organized and store all your medication in the correct place using the correct application.
This will save you time spent hunting for the proper medications for yourself or your family members. So, to give you peace and let you concentrate on your health, here are five simple tips that can be followed to organize the medications for yourself and take the medicines on time. These ways discussed below will help you manage the medicine cabinet like a pro and avoid making mistakes to get the right medicine.
1. Choose a proper medicine organization system
When you want to organize your medicines, it is essential to store them correctly. Choose an organization system to keep the medications and check the storage conditions recommended on the packaging of the medicines.
If you plan to keep your medicines in the kitchen cabinets, ensure that the cabinet is not situated near the stove, sink, or side of the refrigerator. These are the areas that emit steam and heat that reduces the strength of the medicine.
After that, you have a medicine organization system, start organizing them properly and keep the medicines accordingly.
2. Dispose of the unwanted medicines
When you have organized all the medicines, take time to dispose of those of no use. Know about the disposing instructions written on the packaging and do as stated. You can also dispose of the medicine in the household waste.
Here are some guidelines to follow while disposing of the medicines-
- Remove your personal information from the medicine box to keep your identity safe.
- Do not break capsules; instead, dissolve them in water and mix them with dishwashing liquid to keep them away from pets or children.
- If you have liquid medications, pour them on absorbent material like a newspaper before throwing them away.
3. Provide categories for the medicines
Some people categorize medicines differently as everyone has different ways of doing this. So, if you are someone who is not categorizing the medicines, then start the process today.
Keep the medicines that would be best for your family and help them get the medication on time. Here are some categories that you can choose-
- Family: Keep individual medications together and label them correctly so that it is easy for the family members to find and take the medicine they need.
- Medicine types: Group the medicines according to the diseases such as cough, flu, fever, and others. Also, do not share the prescribed medications in the family.
4. Prioritize the most used medications
When you organize the medications in a safe place, it is necessary to prioritize the most used medicines in advance to take the medication on time and every day. For your convenience, put all the daily medications in the front of the medicine box and handle them accordingly.
If you have medication that will expire soon, mark them using a highlighter so that you know to check the date before using them.
5. Keep all the medications together
If all your medications are kept at different places at your home, try to gather them together and keep them in one place. This will help you to organize the medications in medicine boxes easily. Also, place the medicines at a location away from cold and heat.
There you have the five simple ways to organize your medications correctly and use a proper medication box to keep all your medicines in one place. Be sure to check the name and instructions of the medicine before taking it.