Storing your medication properly is important. Only if they have their place in the house will you and your family members always know where to find their supplements, pain relief medications, and others.
In this article, we’ll try to give you some guidelines on how to manage your medication and develop a system that will work well for you and your family. Also, since medicine safety is so important, we’ll share some simple tips on making sure all medications are good and when is the right time to toss them.
Use a Box
When you ask people where they store their medicine, most of them will tell you that they’re everywhere around the house. Indeed, medicine mostly occupies bathroom cabinets, but you would be surprised by the number of people who store them in the kitchen or their nightstand. Since a cabinet might not be the best possible option due to humidity levels, one of the tricks is to use transparent boxes.
If you’re using boxes with labels, you’ll be able to group your medication and have them in their designated place. Another way to store them is to use nice decorative boxes so that everyone thinks they’re adding some texture to space. You can decide on the pattern and have them on one of the highest shelves so your kids would be able to reach them.
Keep Your Medication in a Cold and Dry Place
The best storage conditions for almost any medication are cool, dark, and cold space. The packages are already dark to keep the light away from the meds, but you need to make sure they’re somewhere cold. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to put in the fridge but to have them in a drawer or cabinet somewhere in the house.
If you decide to keep your medicine in the bathroom or kitchen, make sure to get one of many clean air solutions to store the medication in the best possible way. Another safe storage solution is to use one of the kitchen cabinets that you don’t open too often. That way, your medicine, and first aid pack will always be close in case you need them.
Color Code Your Medication
When you start sorting medication in different boxes, you’ll realize that sometimes it will take time to figure out which one you have to use and when. One way to mark the important medicine is to get colored stickers and put them on the lids. That way, you’ll know by colors which treatments are the ones you’re taking every day and differentiate them in your supplements, for example.
Each color can stand for a different type of medication and have blue for allergies, green for pain, and red for muscle pains. You can also put names on the pills so that you know which ones are yours. As long as the color-coding system works, that’s the one you should be using.
Dispose of Medicine
If a medicine is past its expiration date or you no longer need it, one of the best things you can do is dispose of it. Keeping it inside your box or locker will only create confusion, and it will take up valuable space that you could use for something else.
Safe disposal is easy if you decide to do it at home since all you need is a sealed bag, coffee grounds, and cat litter. Throw away the pills in the box and add some water to help them dissolve. Later, you can add more soil and put it in a big plant pot. Don’t forget to throw away your medication bottles and remove your name with a black marker.
Organize Your Medicine on the Go
When you have to take medication during the day, the best way to stay organized is to store all your pills in a pill organizer. With several different compartments, it will be easy to know what you have to take and when. With an abundance of different designs, you can choose the one that’s easy to understand and use.
Keep It Neat
With nearly 60% of people taking at least one prescription drug every week, it’s crucial to know where and how to store your medications. As keeping them in the wrong environment can decrease their effectiveness, finding the right place for them is one of the first things you ought to do in a new house.
Once you find a place where medicine won’t experience extreme temperatures, humidity, and strong sunlight, get a nice set of boxes and take one afternoon to make it neat and organized. Even if you’re taking specific medication, ask your pharmacist what’s the best place to store them. Sometimes, it might turn out that it’s your fridge, but a kitchen might also be a good place to start thinking about.
