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List and learn…

List the products stocked in your pharmacy that you could recommend to an adult customer to relieve a blocked nose, a sore throat and a cough due to a cold.

Products could include nasal sprays, tablets and capsules, as well as aromatic rubs.

In the pharmacy….

She comes to the counter to make payment and asks if the product is suitable for clearing a blocked nose and helping young children to sleep. Her baby is 6 months old and the young child is 4. What would you advise?

You advise her that the rub is suitable for children over the age of 2 years and can be either rubbed in or used as an inhalation.

Wrong – Aromatic rubs are suitable for children over 2 years of age and should be applied lightly on the chest and back of children. However, they are only suitable as an inhalation in adults and children over 12 years of age

You advise her that the aromatic rub can be applied lightly to a child’s chest and back, but that it is not suitable for children under 2 years of age.

Correct - For children over 2 years of age aromatic rubs should be applied lightly to chest and back only. (For adults, it should be applied liberally to the chest, throat and back). It should be rubbed in well and the nightclothes left loose for easy inhalation of the vapours

References

1.Prather AA, Leung CW. JAMA Intern Med. 2016 Jun 1;176(6):850-2.

2.Besedovsky L, et al. Physiol Rev. 2019 Jul 1;99(3):1325-1380.

3.Kumar N, Gupta R. Sleep Med Clin. 2022 Mar;17(1):41-52.

4.Smith A, Matthews O. Aromatic ointments for the common cold: what does the science say? Drugs Context. 2022;11:2022-5-6. https://doi.org/10.7573/dic.2022-5-6