b'Mens Health, Worth the Discussion Spring Cleaning Your Medicine Cabinet As we transition from winter to spring, youre probablythinking about getting the house in order and spring cleaning. But as you think about decluttering yourDROP OFF YOURcupboards and cleaning the baseboards, theres oneEXPIRED OR UNUSED thing you should add to the listyour medicineMEDICATION AT cabinet. The medicine cabinet can accumulate a lotHOWARD PHARMACY.of clutter over time, from the last few cold tablets Call 707-456-3005to the pain pills you didnt use following that rootor stop by atcanal from two years ago. 3 Marcela Drivein WillitsIts a good thing to declutter and go through your medications at least once or twicea year, shares Carrie Winter, pharmacist at Howard Pharmacy. Make sure yourover-the-counter and prescription medications are not expired. Its especially important to dispose or lock away prescription pain medications. This way youcan make sure a curious child cant get them, and no one in the household will take them by mistake. This is especially important for households with teens, as 4 in 10 teens who have misused or abused prescription drugs, obtained those drugs from their parents medicine cabinet, she explains.PHARMACIST CARRIE WINTER | HOWARD PHARMACYHeres how you can spring clean your medicine cabinetToss Expired MedicationsDispose ResponsiblyTime to Stock Upand Products According to Winter, tossingAfter youve decluttered,Winter says medications areunused medicines into theits also a good time to usually only good for a year fromgarbage or flushing them replenish your stock. Winter the date they were opened. Its gooddown the toilet can be dangerous.shares some medicine cabinet practice to write the date you opened theLandfill sites and water supplies becomeessentials every household should have bottle or package on the label. This willtainted with discarded medicines such as acetaminophen for fevers, aches help you keep track so you can get rid ofwhen people dispose of them in thisand pains, something for motion sickness, them after a year. But if the color or odormanner. Howard Pharmacy offers a antibiotic ointment and, of course,has changed, thats a sign to toss it out,safe medication disposal box to make band-aids. When illness strikes or the regardless of expiration date.it easy and convenient for you.little ones get boo-boos, you want these products close by instead of having torun to the store, she explains. AHMendocino.org|7'