OTC in the pharmacy: Getting ahead of the weather

When wintry weather hurls rain, sleet, snow, and hail straight at our heads, defensive health behaviors take in everything from the top down. So this month, we start at the top.

Lip care

As temperatures plunge, inclement weather takes its toll on lips that turn dry, chapped, and sore. To counteract those effects, the Mentholatum Company offers its Softlips line of products.

Softlips Cubes offer “5-in-1 Lip Care” in a formula that includes Shea butter for hydration, vitamins A, C, and E for antioxidant support, emollients to smooth the lips, an SPF 15 sunscreen for protection, and ingredients to add shine. Cube choices include pomegranate blueberry, vanilla bean, and fresh mint.

Also from Softlips: Intense Moisture tubes, offering hydration and protection in berry mint, citrus mint, and double mint flavors. Featured ingredients include breath fresheners and murumuru seed butter to help prevent moisture loss.

Softlips also features its Classic lip balms, available in vanilla, watermelon, and raspberry flavors, and its Tints, in pearl, blossom, and honey tones. (www.softlips.com) (Softlips Cubes image courtesy of The Mentholatum Company)

Oral relief

As winter air loses moisture, dry mouth can become a problem even for those not contending with such conditions as Sjögren’s Syndrome, oral thrush, oncology side effects, and burning mouth or tongue. For all of the above, MedActive offers a complete line of oral care products, beginning with its Oral Relief Gel and Spray products, which enhance saliva, relieve burning feelings, and safely coat, lubricate, and soothe gum pain and inflammation, burning and cracked tongue, dry mouth and low saliva, mucosal soft tissue dryness, bleeding gums, and oral sores and lesions. These products are sugar- and gluten-free, and available without prescription for use by adults.

MedActive’s Oral Relief Lozenges hydrate mucosal soft tissue, stimulate saliva flow, and relieve burning sensations. They can be used by adults and children above the age of six years. Flavors include lemon lime, orange crème, ruby raspberry, and natural spring.

MedActive also offers an alcohol- and sugar-free 0.1% Stannous Fluoride Rinse, available in a “mix-before-use” dual dispenser, for nighttime use. Effective for up to eight hours, this product is said to aid in prevention of tooth decay, remineralization of tooth surfaces, and tooth desensitization. It too is available without prescription. (www.medactive.com) (MedActive products image courtesy of Medactive Oral Pharmaceuticals)

Sore throats

Designed to relieve winter-triggered sore throats is new GoGargle!, an effervescent salt-water rinse that combines such soothing ingredients as honey, aloe, camomile, and mint with zinc, vitamins C and E, and herbs. GoGargle! was named Best New Product of 2014 by the retail marketing group ECRM. It is available at a variety of retail outlets across the country. (www.gogargle.com) (GoGargle! image courtesy of O'Connor Companies LLC)

Cold sores

Last but not least, Carma Labs, the makers of Carmex lip balm products, have launched new Carmex Cold Sore Treatment, described as the only OTC therapy that works on contact to block pain and itch with 10% benzocaine while minimizing the appearance of a sore, using a patented technology that softens its appearance, helps fill in unevenness, and corrects the skin tone. This product can be found at pharmacies and mass-market retailers throughout the United States. (www.carmexcoldsore.com) (Carmex Cold Sore Treatment image courtesy of Carma Labs)