Self-medication is intake of medicines by an individual to treat health problems without consulting Doctors. Although self medication is pocket friendly as it doesn’t require Doctor’s visit but it is not at all a safe procedure and at times can cause danger to one’s health. With our surroundings friends, relatives, uncles, aunts & specially the neighbors who suggest us to take random tablets /syrup/ capsule without knowing the correct doses of those powerful drugs, ultimately affects our health issues in many cases.
Some medicines like cough syrups, antibiotics, anti-allergy tablets, pain relief drugs, antacids, vitamins, crocins are easily available since these are OTC drugs i.e. over the counter medicines. We often neglect the idea of going to Doctors for fever, cough & cold, back pain & treat them as small issues & ended up taking these OTC drugs, but to remember you that even intake of crocin sometimes can have side-effects if proper dose is not known. For which consultation with Doctors is necessary.
Negative Consequences of Self- Medication:
Self-medication is harmful since just a wrong self diagnosis can lead to wrong medicines which in turn might affect your health. Having pills quickly without consulting Doctors give us instant relief but the reaction happens later on & we often forget this fact. Taking medicines without consulting Doctors may lead to drug interactions. If a patient is under specific medications, along with it if he applies self medication, it may lead to adverse reactions. This happens because one drug may interact differently when taken with another drug. Even self medication may lead to wrong drug dosages since an individual is not aware of how much medicine he should take & consumes medicines as per his will. Some medicines are to be swallowed, some medicines are put under the tongue, and some has to be taken after lunch or dinner. But taking medicines without proper Doctor consultation increases the possibility of taking medicines in a wrong way like swallowing it orally when it is supposed to be put under the tongue.
Self-medication increases dependency of people towards medicines which is being considered as one of the most serious health issues in future. We take medicines without consulting Specialist just to avoid expense & to save our time. It does give us instant relief but is not the ultimate solution. Because wrong medications may lead to disabilities & even premature death which is much more expensive than time & money saving.
Conclusion – Avoid self-medication. Since once you start taking medicines by your own decision then it becomes a habit for lifetime & the result is harmful for your own health. Taking pills like taking candies is not the right way. Find out the Doctors for your health issues, consult with them & take medicines in a correct way.
