I’ve really been thinking of making my own first aid kit and putting the supplies in some kind of chest or case fitting the aesthetic!
I highly recommend the following first-aid:
- Bactine or wound spray instead of alcohol or hydro peroxide (hydro peroxide actually causes worse scars bc it kinda eats at the edges of the wound a bit. It’s very harsh!). Bactine has a mild numbing agent, and wound spray is really useful for messy things that sting like a motherfucker (it’s also safe for open wounds, in a way that other first-aid cleaner liquids are usually not). Skintegrity by medline is the wound spray I use; it’s hospital-grade stuff. Tempting as it is to transfer this into a fancy glass bottle, I don’t recommend it as that might tamper with the sterility of it.
- Nexcare clear waterproof bandaids. These shits are not even in the vicinity of fucking around. You can wash your hands with them on. They stay on for DAYS. I’m serious. I used to use them for working retail and I washed my hands a lot. They stay on. Even on your feet.
- Some kineseo tape in case of sprains. You can youtube how to put it on for almost any kind of muscle or joint type of issue. It’s amazing stuff, way better than typical bandage roll.
- Something for burns. Take your pick, everyone’s different. There’s burn treatments that have milder cousins to novocaine nowadays, or there’s going traditional with aloe gel. It’s up to you, the main thing with a burn is to keep it moist and hydrated and not to mess with the blister.
- Antibacterial wipes. These help with everything from acne/cysts/styes to keeping wounds clean to sponge baths when you’re too poorly to take a full shower. They’re hard to find nowadays but I got a bulk pack of the kleenex brand in January and they’re great for when you have depression hygiene, or shaving cuts, or cysts, or any number of small things that get kinda unpleasant if they get infected. They’re also usually benign enough to use on babies.
- Salt for mouth injuries. Mix as much salt as you can stand into warm water and swish! This was officially recc’d me by surgeons etc (and I’ve had a lot of mouth surgeries and braces-related injuries in there), and it’s a lot cheaper (and hurts less) than buying the peroxyl stuff.
- Itch cream of some sort, for bug bites and such. Corticosteroids like hydrocortisone cream can be a good option here, and it works on more than itching--it also works on skin irritation like chafing.
And the following medicines:
- Naproxen. This is a good powerful analgesic that works on neuropathic pain like migraines and sciatica. Comes generic. Costco very cheaply has HUGE bottles of it.
- Brioschi. I prefer this to tums or alka seltzer. It tastes better (idk about you but tums make me gag). Brand. Have to mail-order from amazon unless you live in NYC. Cheap bc it’s mostly baking soda. You can also just keep baking soda around if you can stand the taste, but Brioschi has a lil glucose and lemon flavour in it to go down easier. Also it fizzes.
- First-line allergy med like Diphenhydramine. And remember it helps with ALL allergic reactions, not just nose stuff. Comes generic. I use this shit on my reaction to bug bites more often than for sneezing.
- Dextromethorphan for cough suppressing.
- Guaifenesin for mucus expectorant. This is what’s in mucinex.
- Pseudoephedrine for sinus pressure. This is still the best option for this problem.
- Candied ginger or strong ginger tea for nausea (proper chai that burns also works bc there’s ginger and a lot of other good stuffs in it). Ginger root doesn’t keep and I’m assuming you want this to keep. However, fresh ginger root works fastest, if you can tolerate just eating a sliver of pure burning. I find ginger works better than any other medicine, even the rx ones (and I’ve had those prescribed me before--all they do is knock you out); the only med that works better for me is the weird sticker they give you after major surgeries and those are very very very Rx-only stickers.
- I know lavender and mint are the popular herbs for calmdown, but there’s also valerian if you’re like me and can’t stand lavender and are tired of mint. Be careful, it makes cats batshit in a slightly different flavour than catnip.
- Probiotic something or other, this is a speciality item you should get yourself if you are ever on antibiotics. I’ve used yoghurt and kombucha in the past, mostly because probiotic pills were too expensive. It helps repopulate your gut, which is very important.
Hope this helps, ymmv of course! But I’ve had to do my own home care for everything from papercuts to chronic conditions to top surgery recovery so I thought I’d share what I’ve learned.
Custom tailor your medicine cabinet for what usually ails you, of course. I tried to include all the basics that come up.
Wow, thanks! The bit about ginger for nausea and valerian especially, my partner is horribly allergic to any and all forms of menthol so its good to know of some alternatives. I’ll be saving this post for myself in the future!
