Is it too early to start cleaning?
It’s a good idea to check the expiration dates of products in your medicine cabinet. Some experts say expired pills can be harmful to your health.
“Some products can be dangerous if used past their expiration date,” pharmacist Deborah Grayson said. daily mail.
“Some people are more concerned about it than others, but always be safe and make sure your tablets and creams are expired before use.”
The least risky products include medicines such as ibuprofen, which are stored in “blister packs” rather than bottles because “no oxygen gets into” the packaging.
“It may be safe for several months past its expiration date, but its effectiveness will likely be reduced,” Grayson warned.
Similarly, drugs such as antidepressants and antihistamines are not harmful to your health if you take them after their expiration date, but they may only become less effective. Expired vitamins also become ineffective, but are not toxic.
However, once the expiration date of a bandage has passed, the sterility of the bandage decreases and the adhesive may decrease.
“If you only have expired dressing, I’d still use it, but replace it with an expired product as soon as possible,” Grayson said.
She added that taking old antibiotics past their expiry date can make you sick, especially if they’re stored in a bottle rather than a sealed pack. Liquid antibiotics pose a higher risk of causing illness because they can be contaminated with infectious bacteria, he added.
To cancel the prescription, patients were advised to go to their local pharmacy so the medication could be safely disposed of.
The high-risk items most likely to be lurking in your medicine cabinet include aspirin, which can deteriorate over time due to exposure to oxygen. Grayson said a way to tell if a drug is spoiled is because it will have a “strong vinegar-like odor,” which means it is “unfit for use.”
“If ingested, it can cause damage to the stomach lining,” she warned.
Grayson added that applying expired creams or ointments to broken skin can lead to infection.
“Steroids switch off the immune response, which can increase the risk of infection,” she says.
Finally, regardless of the expiration date, eye drops should be thrown away within 28 days of opening.
“Always write the date of first use on eye drops so you know when to throw them away,” she explains, adding that opened bottles of cough syrup should also be thrown away after six months. .
