Medicine Cabinet

A well stocked first aid kit is an essential for any home. Avoid storing medicines or dressings in a bathroom as the warm, moist atmosphere will encourage deterioration and mould.

A few tips:
- Keep medicines locked away or high up out of reach of children.
- Always keep medicines in their original containers, together with instruction sheets.
- Check use by dates of medicines and sealed dressings regularly.
- Never use a medicine that is out of date.
- Don't use any medicines that have leaked, changed colour, smell odd, or have changed in any way.
- Return expired medicines to your pharmacist for safe disposal.
- Replenish stocks as soon as they are used up.

Suggested check list that your medicine cabinet could include:
- Digital thermometer
- Blunt-ended scissors
- Fine tweezers
- Safety pins
- Antiseptic wipes or cream
- Assorted plasters designed for blisters, bleeding wounds, burns and scalds, grazes, deeper cuts and awkward contours
- Surgical tape
- Painkillers
- Insect sting pain-reliever spray or 1 per cent hydrocortisone cream, also relieves sunburn

More and more people are using natural remedies for first aid, some good ones to try include:
- Clove oil for toothache
- Arnica cream, a homeopathic remedy for bruises, aches, sprains and stings
- Aloe vera gel for soothing sore skin, and taking the sting out of sunburn
- Tea tree oil products as an antiseptic
- Lavender essential oil to treat burns and insect bites.