KEEP YOUR MEDICINE CABINET WELL-STOCKED FOR MINOR ILLNESS

Keeping your medicine cabinet stocked with over-the-counter medications can help you treat minor illnesses yourself.

Paul Mackey, a family nurse practitioner at St. Francis Medical Center's Convenient Care, and John Taylor, a flight nurse at Southeast Missouri Hospital, say the following are some basic items to treat the colds, flu and sore throats that tend to strike at this time of year.

• Ibuprofen (like Motrin or Advil) or acetaminophen (like Tylenol) for aches and low-grade fever. Mackey said ibuprofen works slightly better at reducing fever. He said it's important with this and any medication to read the directions carefully and follow the recommended dosage. For children, if the dosage is given for weight and age, Mackey said it is best to go by weight.

Also, parents should keep in mind that children with a viral infection (which would include cold and flu) should not be given aspirin since it can cause Reye's syndrome, a potentially life-threatening illness.

Mackey cautions parents to read the labels of medications because many, including several diarrhea medications, contain aspirin.

• Antihistamine for allergies. Symptoms of allergies are sneezing, a runny nose in which the mucus is clear and a ticklish throat.
• Decongestant for a stuffy nose.
• Cough suppressant for coughs.
• Saline nasal spray to keep nasal passages from drying out.
• Thermometer for taking temperature.
• Blow dryer for ear aches. Mackey said aiming a blow dryer, on the lowest heat setting and lowest fan setting, into the ear, can reduce the pain of ear aches.

When stocking over-the-counter medication, Mackey recommends buying medications that treat single symptoms rather than the super medicines that combine several medications together.

"You want to only treating the symptoms that are present," Mackey said. There's no sense taking a combination antihistamine/decongestant/cough suppressant/fever reducer if you only need a decongestant, he said.

In addition to taking the right medicine in the right amount for the symptoms you have, Mackey said you need to follow the advice your mother probably gave you:

Drink plenty of liquids, get lots of rest and try not to pass those germs around.