Disclaimer: This article features medical and health topics for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to replace or serve as medical or professional advice for self-diagnosis, self-treatment, self-medication, or the like for any health-related condition or medical emergency. Make sure to consult a health care or medical professional for proper medical care, diagnosis, or treatment related to your situation.
Shopping online for health-related products can be challenging, so Southstar Drug shares some tips to help you for your next purchase.
The convenience of online shopping is undeniable. With the wide range of products available through various e-commerce sites, you can buy everything you need and want without leaving the comfort of your home.
What’s more, the kinds of products you can purchase online continue to grow. Before, the selections ranged from groceries and home essentials to electronics and fashion accessories. Now, you can also find and buy medical products online. Just one search of “buy medicine online Philippines” and you’ll be met with hundreds if not thousands of choices.
Of course, purchasing medications and health products from websites requires additional care. If you don’t exercise caution, you might end up with something that can do you more harm than good. Instead of getting better, you might end up endangering your health.
To make sure that you’re getting quality medicines and health products online, keep in mind these 5 tips:
Consult Your Doctor
Whenever you need (or feel like you need) to take medications, it’s best to consult your doctor first and get a proper diagnosis. You may discover that you don’t really have to take medicines for your condition, but rather just let nature take its course. If it turns out that you do need to medicate, then your doctor can provide treatment recommendations that will produce the best results.
Aside from writing you a prescription if needed, your doctor can also tell you what side effects you need to watch out for when taking your medicines. If you’re taking supplements, your doctor can also tell you whether it’s advisable to continue with it or better to stop in the meantime.
With the help of your doctor, you’ll have more information to work with so you can make better decisions when it comes to your health. In addition, you can also save money! The professional fee you pay is definitely worth it when you consider the risks you’ll be able to avoid.
Buy from Reputable Establishments
If you’ve established with your doctor that you need to purchase medicines, the next step you have to take is to look for trustworthy establishments. Fortunately, top drugstores in the country like Southstar Drug already have online counterparts. Thus, you can rest assured that you can purchase quality medicines, health equipment, and similar products.
Don’t take your chances with unfamiliar sellers with unproven reputations. You may end up getting untested products, expired goods, or medicines with dangerous ingredients. For machines like blood pressure monitors, you might not get accurate readings or the equipment might break after just a few uses.
If these situations happen, you might encounter difficulties in getting proper compensation and issue resolution if you dealt with shady establishments.
Look for Well-Known Brands
In addition to buying only from established online drugstores, it’s also important to look for quality brands or those that you already know work for you. For over-the-counter medicines, it’s easy to determine the good ones as they are usually the most popular as well. However, this is not to say that generic medicines are not good or effective. The most important thing is that they work and that they’re safe.
For prescription medications, consult your doctor first before switching brands. In some cases, you might not have other options because there’s only one manufacturer that makes the specific formulation that you need. Don’t immediately buy an alternative online; get the opinion of a qualified health professional before anything else!
Pay Attention to Over-Promising Keywords
In order to sell their products, pharmaceutical manufacturers advertise the benefits of their medicines. They may say that a painkiller can be taken even if you haven’t eaten yet, without causing an upset stomach. This is pretty normal; the problems come when there are promises or claims that are too good to be true.
Pay close attention to keywords like “miracle cure” or other exaggerated declarations of benefits. Even “risk-free” is something to watch out for, as all medications have some form of side effects (even if that side effect is small or negligible). In addition, don’t take medicines just because they’re recommended to you by someone who found them effective. You may not experience the same effects or end up with a worse condition. When in doubt, consult your doctor.
Check the Website’s Security
Once you’ve finally decided to push through with your online purchase of health products, you should verify that the website you chose to buy from is secure. This isn’t a big issue when it comes to established sellers, but it still doesn’t hurt to check the security measures being implemented.
First, check the security protocol of the website. It should have “https” instead of just “http” on the address bar. A padlock icon will also indicate that the website is protected. About payment methods, make sure that you aren’t being asked to send information through email. Rather, they should capture your details on-site where it’s encrypted by their security protocol.
All in all, buying health products online is just like your usual online shopping experience. The main difference is that you should work closely with health professionals so you know you’re in good hands.
You can now conveniently purchase your medicines online at Southstar Drug. Take advantage of our FREE delivery service if you purchase a total of Php 1,499 and up for Metro Manila, Rizal, and select areas in Pampanga, Cavite, and Batangas. For the remaining provinces, you may enjoy FREE delivery service for purchases worth Php 5,000 and up.
