Festival Season: What Is Actually Worth Keeping in Your Bag

We are a few minutes from a great many venues, so August is busy in here. The same handful of things come up again and again, and most of them are avoidable with a little forethought.

Blisters, first and foremost

The single most common thing we see all month. Cobbles, hills and twelve-hour days do it. Hydrocolloid blister plasters are worth carrying because they work on a blister that has already formed, not just as prevention, and they stay on.

If a blister is deep, weeping, or the skin around it is hot and spreading red, that is worth showing someone rather than covering up.

Painkillers, and the honest version

Paracetamol and ibuprofen cover most headaches and sore feet. The useful thing to know is the dose you are actually taking: a lot of cold and flu sachets already contain paracetamol, and it is easy to double up without realising.

If you take other medicines regularly, check with us before adding ibuprofen in particular. It does not suit everyone.

Sun and rain in the same afternoon

It is Scotland, so both. Sunscreen genuinely does get forgotten here, and a long day queueing outdoors will catch you out even when it is not warm.

Antihistamines if you get hay fever

Grass pollen is still about into August. A non-drowsy antihistamine taken regularly through the season works considerably better than one taken only when your eyes start streaming.

What you can skip

You do not need a full first aid kit. Anything you have genuinely forgotten can be bought within a few minutes' walk, and if you are staying nearby we are open Monday to Saturday.

When to come and see someone

A pharmacist can assess and treat quite a lot without an appointment: sore throats, urinary symptoms, skin infections, eye infections. If something has been getting steadily worse over a few days rather than steadily better, that is the point to ask rather than to wait until you are home.