Storing and Organizing Medications

It should go without saying that any medicine in the home should be treated with great care. That being said, storing and organizing medications is fairly simply if you know what to look out for. With that in mind, here are a few guidelines that are designed to help you make the whole process a little bit easier. When using these guidelines remember that they are exactly that, guidelines. If there are any special instructions that your doctor has for storing your medications, then you need to follow those directions instead.

• Decide where to store your medicine. Chose one place in your home that you are going to use to store your medicine. The traditional places are going to either be in the bathroom medicine cabinet, or in the kitchen. In all honesty the only time that you really need to store any medicine in the kitchen is if you happen to have medicine that needs to be refrigerated for some reason or another. Wherever you store your medicine, make sure that it is stored high enough to be out of reach of any children that may be in your home.
• Keep the medicine cool and dry. If you plan on storing your medicine in the bathroom medicine cabinet, then make sure each and every bottle is sealed tight; otherwise the potential moisture could ruin the medicine. In the kitchen, do not store any medicine near your stove or microwave. Avoid any excess heat or moisture at all costs, and never use any medicine that has changed its color, consistency, or even shape.
• Accept the limitations. If you happen to take a lot of medicines, or have several people in your home who do, then be aware of your storage space. It is easy to run out of storage space, especially a bathroom. In the event that you find yourself running out of storage space for your medicine, then consider using an alternative storage site (such as the kitchen). Keep in mind the basic safety requirements for storing medicine, and you should be fine.
• Organize by when you use the medicines. Ideally, you will be able to use your medicine cabinet for storing medicine. When you do, try to assign one shelf for each person in the home that needs to use medicine. Also keep the medicine stored so that you can easily see the expiration date and the name of the person who needs the medicine. This way you can avoid accidents, and have an easier time of noticing when medicine is no longer any good.