November 2017 Newsletter
National Self-Care Week 13—19 November
Self Care Week is an annual national awareness week that focuses on establishing support for self care across communities, families and generations.
More needs to be done to support people to better look after their own health. Empowering individuals to self care has many benefits for their short term and long term health and this is important since people are living longer.
Helping people to look after their own health, and their family’s health also helps to manage demand on health services.
Everyone can participate in some way to their own self-care. Simple steps include:
Healthy Lifestyle habits
Aim to exercise daily, stop smoking and reduce your alcohol intake, and eat healthily.
Visit your Pharmacist
Your Pharmacist can provide professional health ad-vice including managing your medicines, treatment for minor ailments, and over the counter treatments for common conditions and advice on suitability of these if you have long term conditions.
Understand common infections
Coughs, colds, sore throats and earache generally get better on their own and can be relieved with over the counter treatments from your Pharmacy. Improve your understanding of self-care of these conditions and likely duration of your symptoms. Further information is below.
A&E is for life-threatening conditions
Please don’t waste your time waiting in A&E with common ailments. Pharmacy first!
Antibiotic Awareness Week 13-19 November
Colds, most coughs, sinusitis, ear infections, sore throats and other infections often get better without antibiotics as you body can usually fight these infections on its own. Many of these conditions last between 4 days and up to 3 weeks, for example:
- Common Cold –usually lasts 10 days
- Cough—usually lasts 21 days
- Earache—usually lasts 4 days
- Sore Throat—usually lasts 7 days
Your first point of call for support with these infections should be your Pharmacist. In the event that you do see the GP with one of these common conditions, generally you will not be prescribed antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is increasing and one of the key reasons is misuse of them by humans. Help us to help you and your family get well via self-care by:
- Getting plenty of rest
- Drink enough fluids to avoid feeling thirsty
- Ask you Pharmacist what to take to ease symptoms
- Fever is the body fighting infection. Take paracetamol to reduce fever
- Use tissues when you sneeze to stop infections spreading
- Wash your hands regularly to stop infections spreading
If your symptoms get worse or you develop new symptoms, contact us or call NHS 111 for ad-vice. In a life-threatening emergency always call 999 immediately.
Further information about self-care, including leaflets for common conditions can be found by visiting www.selfcareforum.org
Support the antibiotic campaign by becoming an antibiotic guardian—details in the picture at the top of the page.
Visit our self-care section on this website.