The small medicine box at home, often have a variety of home medicine, in case of emergency, but many times, put in place, they do not know how long they lie in it, until the need to use the time to take out a look – has passed the expiration date; also some drugs because of improper storage, causing the drug has quietly deteriorated. But some people do not even look at the time of emergency, pick it up and use it directly, which will not only fail to achieve the desired therapeutic purpose, but sometimes cause more serious consequences. The family medicine box is best to separate the type of box, try not to use paper boxes and other easily damp things as a medicine box; small medicine box to be placed in a light, dry place, to avoid the loss of drugs due to environmental effects; each drug should be stored together with the outer packaging, so as to avoid confusing drugs and can not identify the shelf life. Drugs that have exceeded their expiration dates should not be used. In addition to reading the expiration date on the instructions, we must also learn to identify the appearance and taste of the drug to identify whether it is deteriorating, if the following signs appear, be alert to the drug has deteriorated, do not take: capsule with softening, cracking or surface adhesion phenomenon; pills with deformation, discoloration, mold or odor; tablets with spots, yellowing, mold, loose or crystalline; sugar-coated tablets surface Has faded to the bottom, yellow spots or yellow; punch has been damp caking or melting, hardening, mold; powder has absorbed moisture into the fermentation odor; ointment has appeared oil-water stratification or odor; internal medicine, especially syrup, regardless of color, are required to clarify, if flocculent, precipitates or even moldy discoloration or gas, it is indicative of deterioration; eye drops, except for a few suspensions, generally All require clarification, and there must not be a little fiber, nor turbidity, precipitation, discoloration, etc., otherwise it can be considered as deterioration; injection solution is not allowed to have discoloration, turbidity, precipitation or crystallization. Generally OTC drugs will have instructions for use, in order to ensure the efficacy of the medicine, we have to prepare the family medicine box of drugs, in accordance with the instructions for storage, storage methods are probably the following: moisture tablets contain starch and other excipients, moisture absorption will be damp or adhesion, sugar-coated tablets will appear after moisture, discoloration and even swelling and mold, not only make the effectiveness of the drug greatly reduced, and sometimes also Toxic side effects, such as aspirin moisture hydrolysis into salicylic acid and acetic acid, so it will become the kind of acetic acid sour taste, if swallowed after this damp aspirin, will stimulate the gastrointestinal tract. It can induce bleeding in the gastric mucosa. Therefore, tablets like these should be kept sealed, remembering to screw the cap back on after each use and keeping them in a dry place. Sealed storage Oxygen can oxidize and deteriorate many drugs such as vitamins A, C, D and epinephrine, phenol, etc., thus decreasing the content of the main ingredients and reducing or invalidating their efficacy, so such drugs must be kept sealed. Avoid light There are some drugs such as sodium nitroprusside, etc., which will change color and reduce efficacy after exposure to light, and vitamin D2 will even become toxic after exposure to ultraviolet light, so they are generally packed in brown bottles, and these drugs should be avoided in places with direct sunlight, such as windowsills. Refrigeration Some medications when we go to pick them up, the doctor or pharmacy staff will remind us that this medication is to be kept in the refrigerator. This is because some medications are prone to deterioration in high temperatures and therefore need to be kept in the refrigerator. Generally speaking, if the drug instruction manual says room temperature storage, it usually means storage in an environment of 10~30℃, if it is kept in the shade, it usually means storage in an environment less than or equal to 20℃, if it is refrigerated, it is usually stored in an environment of 2~10℃. In short, people in the home storage, the use of drugs in the process, should be strictly in accordance with drug instructions or doctor’s orders to take drugs, try to avoid changes in drug efficacy, toxic side effects enhanced, in addition, regular cleaning of the medicine box, replacement of drugs is also essential.