As we and our loved ones age, it becomes increasingly likely that we will need to take medications for chronic conditions. We also usually keep over the counter medications in our homes for pain management, symptoms of the common cold or other simple occasional problems. The most common places to store medications are the bathroom and the kitchen. There are issues with both places.
The bathroom may be a convenient place to store medication but there is a great deal of humidity due to bathing activities we complete in the bathroom. The medicine chest is often placed over the sink which increases the rate at which medication is affected by moisture. Medications will often lose potency from the exposure.
The kitchen is the other place that people store medications. This keeps them convenient to remind us to take them as we should but will often put them in easy reach of children. We should always take care to teach children to leave medicines alone but the teaching isn’t always effective. There is less chance of humidity becoming a problem in the kitchen.
The safest place to store medications is in a sealed container (Rubbermaid, Tupperware or such) in an upper level cabinet.
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