Makeover your medicine cabinet

Jane Worthington has the products to ensure your medicine cabinet is fit for purpose when sickness strikes.

TUMMY TROUBLES

Iberogast ($44.95 for 100ml from Priceline Pharmacy) can help relieve digestive symptoms including pain, diarrhoea and constipation.

ALL SORTS

Leukoplast tape (from $5.95 on eBay.com.au) is a must to cover blisters and to retract skin away from ingrown nails or for strapping sprained ankles and plantar

NAUSEA

“Mylanta ($10.50 for 500ml from Priceline Pharmacy) is good for stomach upsets after a hangover,” says Dr David Leaf, from Myhealth Barangaroo Medical Centre.

ITCHY MOMENTS

Calamine lotion was used to soothe scratchy skin conditions like chicken pox, but chemists now recommend EGO Pinetarsol Solution ($11.59 for 200ml from Priceline Pharmacy).

BITES AND BURNS

0.5% Hydrocortisone cream (available without prescription from $3.99 at ePharmacy.com.au) is good for sunburn, insect bites and itchy rashes. Use in short bursts for relief.

CUTS AND SCRAPES

Clean, then apply an antiseptic cream to the wound two to three times daily. (Crystaderm, $11.49 for a 15g tube, from Chemist Warehouse.)

DEHYDRATION

Electrolytereplenishing Hydralyte ($15.99 for 20 tablets from Priceline Pharmacy), comes in effervescent tablets, readyto-drink bottles and iceblocks, is suitable for all ages and ideal for fluid loss.

TICK REMOVAL

Freeze, don’t squeeze. “We now recommend the use of products like Wart-Off Freeze Spray ($29.89 from Priceline Pharmacy),” says Allergy Specialist and Immunologist Dr Alex Lozynsky. “It prevents the tick injecting saliva.”