Let’s not kid ourselves. Yes, the air is warmer, the days are getting longer, and the season of Spring officially begins this month. In Colorado, we understand that this means absolutely nothing and what has actually happened is our moody friend, Fake Spring, has shown up giving us some seriously mixed vibes. We are going to get some more snow, we all know it. Our ashy winter legs will also be treated to some 80° sunshine the day after said snow. Poor plants will be tricked into blooming, pollinating, and then freezing to literal death – its horrifying. Fake Spring is a punk bringing us premature pollen and wildly unstable temperatures. Our bodies do not love this time of year, and let us pharmacists tell you… it shows. This week we are going to talk about a pharmacist’s talent in navigating the over-the-counter section and how Fake Spring is one of the many times we can save time and money.
Though many large, chain pharmacies would like you to believe otherwise, pharmacists know just as much about over-the-counter (OTC) medications as we do prescription drugs. As many pharmacies construct physical barriers between patients and their pharmacists, we at Front Range want to be drastically different by being your drug expert in the aisles, not just behind the counter. Fake Spring is one of the seasons that we feel like we could work an entire shift in the OTC section. There is a ridiculous amount of marketing to see beyond in order to select the right product for your symptoms and the choices seem to be endless. Before you go reaching for whatever was in the last commercial you saw, you should know that this unique time of year in Colorado presents some additional challenges to treating allergies. The dry air, high altitude, and temperature fluctuations mean that using some products marketed for “multi-symptom allergies” might make things worse for you instead of better. Nosebleeds, dry eyes and mouth, even constipation are common but can be mitigated if you consult your pharmacist. Do you have high blood pressure? Suffer from narrow angle glaucoma? Are you a frequent consumer of grapefruits? All of these matter, some quite a bit, and your pharmacist should be at your side to guide you when selecting OTC medications. While March and April send people clamoring into the pharmacy, the point we are trying to make here is that your pharmacist should have the time and bandwidth to help you select non-prescription meds during all seasons. Not sure whether to suffer through the waiting room and pay your out-of-pocket for the doctor? Come see your pharmacist, you would be shocked how many times we could save you time and money but still get you feeling better. Year after year, we experience people showing up with antibiotic prescriptions to treat symptoms actually cured by just an antihistamine and nasal decongestant. Pharmacists can easily see when a patient is struggling to decide what product is right for them, but are not always given the time to step out and offer counsel. When planning Front Range, we understood that being educated on OTC medications is just as important as prescriptions and designed our pharmacy accordingly. From behind the counter we can see all aisles and we created two exits in the pharmacy to quickly serve patients on either side. We want to be there to share with you expert knowledge, not watch you buy the prettiest box of nonsense from the shelf.
This week we set down to pick out our entire OTC inventory and deliberately selected products we believe in and can stand behind. If something isn’t worth your money, will not solve your problem, or interacts with your prescription medications, Front Range will tell you. Instead of marching towards corporate-driven metrics everyday, we are here to listen to your problems and give as much guidance as professionally possible. When you leave with a product or a prescription, we want you to go with confidence that you made a good decision versus being rushed out of the pickup line with no time to ask questions. From allergies to constipation, scraped knees to dandruff, we are trained in all of it and actually want to help you feel better and live healthy. At Front Range Pharmacy, your medication experts will be at your fingertips with kind, professional, and transparent advice. You are going to love your local pharmacy!