Do you really need a doctor for a runny nose?

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It’s National Self Care week. The initiative, which is backed by the Department of Health, aims to encourage people to manage minor illnesses at home.

The Government estimates that more than 50 million consultations a year are for trivial ailments that do not require a doctor’s appointment.

Aside from costing the NHS about £2 billion each year, this also puts pressure on overstretched GP services.

Trivial ailments: Five million people go to see their GP about a blocked nose every year

All too often the first patients to be seen are those who are fastest on the redial button rather than those who need it most.

Isn’t this doctors trying to make their own lives easier?

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Absolutely not. Self-care is about empowering people so they don’t need to rely on their GP. Many people have lost the ability or confidence to care for themselves during minor illnesses.

We certainly under-use the huge knowledge base of pharmacists who are widely consulted for advice in Europe. Each year, for instance, five million people go to their GP with a blocked nose, most of whom will be advised to go to the pharmacist.

What sort of conditions should we be treating ourselves?

Put simply the short-lived, common minor ailments such  as runny noses, sore throats, mild sunburn, nits, threadworms and conjunctivitis. However, if the problem lasts for more than week  it is important to seek help. Why do we not have the self-care knowledge when we have such ready access to health information on the internet?

There is much less knowledge and advice passed on in families and communities than there used to be and, because people want  an immediate cure, they turn to professionals for help.

The plethora of online health information can actually be confusing rather than helpful, just as the wide range of over-the-counter medicines may be somewhat bewildering.

This is why a good pharmacist is such  a valuable source of health information and medicine.

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