Like many Australians, I am a lifelong football fan. But unlike many Australians, when I say football, I actually mean soccer. And while most people opted for Liverpool or Manchester United, I found myself enamoured with a little club on the bank of the river Thames called Fulham FC. As a young man, I spent some time living in south west London, and though it pains me greatly, I cannot leave my first love. Currently, Fulham’s striker is a Serbian named Alexander Mitrovic, and until recently, he was wildly underutilised. He just scores headers, people would moan. He’s slow and doesn’t offer anything. Finally, a manager at the beginning of this year arrived at Fulham who understood Mitrovic’s potential, and after one season, he broke the second division scoring record (by twelve goals) and fired Fulham back into the Premier League.
Why am I talking about second division English football, you might ask? Well, I sometimes feel like a pharmacy is just as underutilised as Alexander Mitrovic. I am always anguished when people speak about a pharmacy as little more than a glorified Ibuprofen dispenser. In reality, they are a one stop shop to help you live a more healthy and comfortable life. It could literally add years to your life if you know how to get the most from a pharmacy.
Let me give you the inside scoop: This is how pharmacists actually use a pharmacy.
Vitamins and minerals
It is entirely possible to get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs from a well rounded diet. But you would need to have a fairly precise and consistent meal plan in place to ensure you’re getting everything you need. And if your life is anything like mine, you occasionally work late, you have to get kids off to clarinet or football (again, I mean soccer), and you get home absolutely spent. That packet lasagne you’ve whacked in the oven probably isn’t providing all of your vitamin and mineral needs. So supplements are a super helpful way to fill the gap of things which are difficult to get in your weekly diet.
I personally cannot stand the taste of fish, so I take an Omega-3 supplement. In doing so, I reduce my risk of diabetes, alzeihmers, strokes and prostate cancer. If you understand the gaps in your diet (seeking advice from a dietician is always an excellent idea) and you know the various options that are available from your Australia pharmacy, you could prolong the quantity and quality of your days. A glorified ibuprofen dispenser indeed!
Sun safety
One of the great perils of living in Australia is the ever present risk of developing melanoma. It is estimated that almost 14,000 people will develop skin cancer this year and 2000 of these people will lose that battle. Your Australia pharmacy is a great place to begin looking for ways to cut down this risk; whether it be polarised sunglasses from the Cancer Council, or the wide range of clinically tested sunscreen lotions that drastically reduce your chances of developing something nasty. But the greatest untapped resource is your pharmacist themselves. Whether you are in-store or using our ‘ask a pharmacist’ function, we can provide you with a whole range of helpful tips which are personalised for your skin, your habits and your budget.
Children’s health
Anyone who has ever had a sick child will know just how much their health affects everything: their sleep, your sleep, your mood, your performance at work… I could go on. Rather than bravely soldiering on with a screaming child, an Australia pharmacy is a great place to start turning the tide and bringing the rosiness back to those little cheeks. Babies’ bodies absorb drugs differently to adult babies, so it is not as simple as giving a reduced dose of your tried and true methods. Instead, we only stock those products that have been clinically tested to pass the most stringent parameters, in both safety and efficacy. In my experience, there are certain flavours which kids tend to spit out. I am sure if you think back to your earliest memory of ‘cough syrup’ as a child, you can remember the thick sickly liquid (now there’s a tongue twister) and how difficult it was to get down. As a result, we only stock those medicines which the kids end up liking so much that they ask for it when they aren’t sick. And again, you can use the ‘ask a pharmacist’ function on this website in case you want to be sure that any particular medicine is exactly right for your little one.
Professional knowledge at your fingertips
This is the greatest strength of the pharmacy in my opinion. Standing behind that counter, or waiting just behind the ‘ask a pharmacy’ tab is an expert in the field who is literally waiting to answer your questions. There is no other medical professional who is so easily accessible to you. You need to book an appointment with a GP, or get a referral to see a specialist. This can be days or weeks in the making. Not so with the pharmacist. And after a few visits or calls, we know who you are and what you need. So whether it is vitamins and minerals, sun safety, children’s health or anything else under the sun, a pharmacist can help you become the best version of yourself. You just need to ask.
Let me close where I began. You don’t want to be the person who leaves a precious resource untapped. You need to be the kind of person who lives a life well led. I watched Fulham leave Mitrovic on the bench all last year, and I can’t help but despair over what might have been had we known how to get the best from him. Don’t make that mistake with regards to your health. The next season isn’t always a clean slate.
Pharmaceutically yours,
Floyd.
PS: Up the Fulham
Image Sources by: Freepik
Image Author: @zinkevych
