Recently Asked Questions

Allergies to certain food, medication, or the bite or sting of an insect can trigger a swollen lip. Pimples on or near the lips may cause some temporary lip swelling as well.

Cold sore and herpes infection may also cause lips to swell.

There are other causes of lip swelling such as muscle conditions, injury to the lips, or dental work such as braces or dental treatment.

If your lips are swollen, you may try applying an ice pack wrapped in a towel to reduce the inflammation. For dryness of the lips, you may consider applying moisturizing lip balm. There are also anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen which may reduce the swelling of the lips. It may be purchased over the counter in the retail pharmacy.

However, it is important to find the underlying cause of your lip swelling. Hence, it is advisable to consult a doctor to find the underlying cause and discuss on appropriate treatment and advice.

Hair Push Plus supplement can be taken 1-3 capsule per day during meals for at least 3 to 6 months. You may wish to either take 3 capsules together or space them apart throughout the day. Do note that Hair Push Plus capsule has to be taken with meals.

You may also refer to NHG Pharmacy website for more details on the product.

https://www.pharmacy.nhg.com.sg/productCatalogue/productDetails.aspx?productid=1121

Collagen is a protein present in the human body. It has many important functions such as providing structure for your skin and strengthening your bones. Consuming collagen may have health benefits such as improving skin health or relieving joint pain.

Bone Broth™ Protein by Ancient Nutrition is a collagen protein powder supplement marketed to support healthy skin, joint health and healthy gut. There is no information on the specific minimum age requirement for consumption. They do however specify a suggested dose for adults. Therefore, it should be safe for a young adult aged 20 – 25 years old to take the supplement.

There are several multivitamins available over-the-counter to support the general well-being of children. These include 21^st Century Vegetarian Children’s Chewable Multivitamins Jellies and Appeton Multivitamin Optigrow.

Vitamin C may be taken to help to strengthen the child’s immunity. These include Champs chewable orange and Zoo Vite Vitamin C jelly stick.

Lysine helps to improve appetite in children. Examples include the Appeton Multivitamin Lysine with Prebiotics and Champs M with Lysine Orange.

You may contact NHG Pharmacy at 6355 3000 (NHG Polyclinics) or 6663 6847 (NUP Polyclinics) to check on the availability and cost of these items.

Oral medications are usually used for the relief of sciatic pain. Those that are available over the counter in NHG Pharmacy include paracetamol and NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (Nurofen) or naproxen (Aleve). Prescription medications such as Anarex can also help with muscle relaxation.

There are several topical products that can help with pain relief. Those that are available over the counter in NHG Pharmacy include methyl salicylate 10% cream, methyl salicylate 25% liniment and Voltaren (diclofenac) emulgel.

You may contact NHG Pharmacy at 6355 3000 (NHG Polyclinics) or 6663 6847 (NUP Polyclinics) to check on the availability and cost of these items.

Fastum gel may be sold after review by a pharmacist. As I would not be able to assess the severity and extent of your condition, I would advise you to consult a doctor to find out the underlying cause and for appropriate treatment and advice.

GlucoFort is a supplement made by a US company that claims to support blood sugar levels in the body. Health supplements in Singapore are not subject to approvals and licensing by HSA for their importation, manufacture and sales. Dealers (importers, manufacturers, wholesale dealers and sellers) have the responsibility to ensure that their products are not harmful or unsafe and that they follow certain guidelines outlined by HSA before supplying the supplement into Singapore.

Currently there is not enough clinical evidence that support the use of supplements in helping diabetics with their sugar levels. Additionally, supplements may contain ingredients that can interact with your chronic medications, causing them to either be more or less effective, or increase the risk of side effects. Therefore it is not advisable to rely on supplements to aid with your sugar levels.

The key to the management of diabetes are diet, exercise, and when required, oral medications and insulin injections.  Below are tips on diabetes diet planning that you may wish to try:

• Reduce fat intake in diet, particularly saturated fat e.g. butter, fried and fatty foods
• Eat consistent amounts of food each day
• Eat small, regular meals based on wide variety of foods to maintain adequate nutrition
• Include mostly carbohydrate and fibre foods such as rice, oats, vegetables, legumes (beans, peas and lentils)
• Do not skip meals
• Try to avoid snacks unless your doctor or dietician recommends them as part of your medication regimen
• Limit alcohol consumption. If you do so, drink in moderation only.

Some patients have reported possible side effects after the completion of Follicular unit extraction (FUE) hair transplants. These side effects include scalp itching, bleeding and inflammation of hair follicles (folliculitis).

As I am not able to assess the severity and extent of your condition, I am not able to suggest use of any creams or medicated shampoos to purchase over the counter. I would advise you to consult a doctor to discuss your concerns of folliculitis.

Folliculitis may be caused by bacterial or fungal infections, therefore it is important to find out the underlying cause of the itch and rashes, and get appropriate treatment and advice accordingly.

Sneezing, stuffy nose, postnasal drip and runny nose may be common allergy symptoms. These symptoms may be due to allergic rhinitis or hay fever. There are many allergens responsible for morning allergy symptoms such as pollen, dust mites, pet dander and even mold.

Therefore, it is important to identify the cause of the allergy.

Below are a few tips to prevent allergy symptoms in the morning for your son such as

-          Using a dehumidifier to reduce the humidity level in the rooms

-          Put a dust mite proof-cover over your mattress or pillow.

-          Dust hard surfaces and vacuum your carpet frequently.

If the condition is mild, he may consider to take over the counter medications such as anti-histamine. Zyrtec R is an antihistamine that can be used for his allergies.

There are other antihistamines available over the counter such as Loratadine and Fexofenadine. Other antihistamines such as Chlorpheniramine is classified as a Pharmacy only medicine. It may be purchased at licensed retail pharmacies after consultation with a pharmacist. There is not much evidence to suggest a particular antihistamine is better than the others. Hence, you may wish to try the antihistamine to see which is suitable for him.

You may wish to bring your son to consult a doctor to discuss on the possible treatment and advices. if the symptoms of allergic rhinitis are disrupting his sleep, preventing him from carrying our daily activities, or affecting his school performance.

This drug/product is not available in NHG Pharmacy. You may wish to contact the hospital or retail pharmacies to enquire on its availability.

Do note that a prescription is required for the purchase of this medication.

Telfast 6mg/mL syrup is available in NHG Pharmacy.

Do note that online purchase is not available for this medicine as a valid prescription must be presented for purchase of this medicine.

It may also be purchased after review by a pharmacist, and in limited quantity.

You may contact NHG Pharmacy at 6355 3000 (NHG Polyclinics) or 6663 6847 (NUP Polyclinics) to check on the cost of these items.