Should I complain about pharmacist?

[LookWhosInsideAgain]

I currently have some kind of open sore on my lip. I’ve never had a cold sore before and I’m not certain it is one so I went to local pharmacy to see if they had anything I could get OTC as it’s very raw and painful and doesn’t seem to be getting any better after 3 days. The entire sore is about 2 cm wide, yellow and wet and is on my bottom lip and goes over the top of the lip from the outside into the inside of my mouth. It’s very swollen and I’ve been wearing left over masks from Covid as I feel very self conscious about how it looks.

When I got to pharmacy lady at the front said she’d get the pharmacist to have a quick look at it and he’d be able to say if they had anything or if it needed a GP appointment. Pharmacist called me into the little consulting room and told me that it’s very common to get results like this if you go to unlicensed practitioners to get lip fillers and that I could get some anbesol - it would really sting but then numbing affect would kick in. I said I hadn’t ever had lip fillers, that this sore had come out of nowhere. He said I can see the puncture mark from the injection and that he couldn’t give advice unless I told him what the real issue was. Again, I said I haven’t had any lip fillers that my lips don’t normally look like this, they’re swollen from the cold sore/ abscess.

He put some gloves on to look at the inside of my mouth and, although I thought he’d just lower my lip down, he instead pinched the sore really hard. I yelped and my eyes started streaming as it was so painful. He said he wanted to see if the filler had collected in a lump there causing the sore and swelling but said actually having felt it, it was a cold sore rather than filler and to ask for some Zovirax at the counter. With that he ushered me out and went back behind the counter.

I could barely speak to ask for the Zovirax as it was so painful. Nice lady at the counter looked concerned and asked if I wanted a sit down but I just wanted to go. This was at around 4pm and it’s still throbbing now to the point that I can’t sleep, it’s far more swollen than earlier and beginnings of a bruise coming up surrounding the cold sore.

I don’t understand why he did this, especially without warning. It seems such an odd way to act for what must be a perfectly standard enquiry at a pharmacy. I don’t know if I should complain or if he was just trying to do his job though. Even if it was filler causing the problem I don’t know how a really hard lunch on an open sore would help.

Any thoughts?

TLDR - suspected cold sore and pharmacist decided to pinch it really hard because he was adamant it was caused by lip filler despite me telling him it wasn’t. Now in more pain, swollen lip and bruise coming up.

You need a cold compress to reduce any swelling.

I would complain - and I'm not one who would usually say that!

Honestly, it sounds as if he did it maliciously hard to prove you were a liar.

By the way, OP, I’m not sure I would be wearing a mask while I have a sore like that. It would surely just irritate it and the moist breathed out air can’t be good for it.

You need to see a GP asap.

First cold sores are not like that...

Definitely complain, totally unacceptable behaviour. You also need to see a GP asap.

As for Pharmacists not being trained...they do a 4 year Masters degree followed by 1 year foundation training so I'd say highly trained.

The generic name for zovirex is acyclovir.

See if you can purchase it online.

I suggest you launch a complaint and involve the care quality commission because what you went through sounds very traumatic. It could mean that this person, unless he is reprimanded may do more harm than good again.

Clearly your lower lip is swollen due to the cold sore and the 'pharmacist' completely dismissed what you were saying and put you through a painful examination which was unecessary and quite vulgar to be honest.

Non-shocka - Male medical professional ignoring, accusing female patient of lying, doing things without consent and minimising female pain

Sorry you went through this.

Yes complain - please even for the sake of the rest of us.

This behaviour needs to be called out.

All I mean is that they're not diagnosticians.
They know about medication.

@TheShellBeach but for some conditions - conjunctivitis, for example, the pharmacist needs to look at your eye to confirm you have an infection before a pharmacy is allowed to sell a tip Kirov eye drops. I had assumed it was the same with other minor ailments like mouth ulcers/ cold sores.

Yes a formal written complaint.

He has made an area already extremely sore even worse as well as calling you a liar and insulting you.

Do you have a minor injuries clinic?

in my experience Zorifax does little as it only really works at the tingling phase.

I once had my entire mouth covered in cold sores it was awful and also highly contagious as well as being embarrassing.

The only thing that works for me are those cold sore patches by comped - they stick on over the top and it stops you touching them etc and heals them within a few days. Good luck. But yes formal complaint in writing detailing exactly what you put in your OP

They train for 5 years

I think it sounds like you are over reacting.
They agreed to see you immediately and he examined you thoroughly. It was painful but that's one of the reasons you attended the pharmacy.
If you had gone in there and he hadn't examined you or pressed it you might have been thinking he didn't examine me properly.
I think you have to consider really carefully if you complain and potentially cause him to lose his job just for giving you a thorough examination.
This is one of the reasons why the nhs and pharmacies really struggle as people complain about things that could be discussed directly with the staff at point of care or after.
Some people are saying he assaulted you!
That isn't right in my opinion

Obviously you were there though and if that's how you feel maybe make a appointment to discuss this with him. And if you are not satisfied with outcome then you can make a more informed decision to take it further.
I do agree he shouldn't have not believed what you initially told him but examination was thorough.

Of course they're trained. They know more about medications than any doctor will know.
Saying that, this pharmacist was a complete knob.

I’d complain he shouldn’t of pinched you fair enough for him to have a look/ feel if you’ve given permission. Also very rude to imply you were lying.

As an aside I’ve found pharmacist really helpful so I can see why you’ve gone there first. They can prescribe stuff under minor ailments that you can’t get over the counter. Also if it’s deemed an emergency my local one will call Gp themselves to see if they can squeeze you in. It’s been really handy in the past especially when I needed Antibiotics after a horsefly bite turned nasty.

He was right to ask if you had lip fillers but once you said no he had two options - to disbelieve you and say he couldn't help you further and you would need to see a GP or A&E if he thought the infection was serious or to accept what you told him and ask if he could examine the inside of your mouth and to be prepared that it might hurt whilst he was examining it.

They do not train to be diagnosticians.

Yes complain on two counts - 1) he did not listen 2) he hurt you.

Deffo.not an assault possibly abit heavy handed. Why not say something at the time though it's much better.

I'm a GP & would never examine an oral lesion like this!! Looking is enough for diagnosis.

I'm a dentist and suggest getting an appointment with yours if you have no joy with your GP.

do you know if where you could have caught the virus? The first bout of cold sores can be quite bad with associated fever and general viral symptoms.

Other causes could be trauma, another type infection or other things that need to be considered and ruled out.

It sounds like a cold sore and hopefully it will heal within a week but do get it checked out by someone who is a bit more competent than this particular pharmacist.

If it's getting bigger, no harm in taking pictures to upload to the GP - might speed up the process for you.

Meanwhile don't share towels, stay well away from it - chop up your food and use a straw where you can.

If it's a cold sore it's highly infectious until it scabs over and can spread across your face

Hope it heals soon.

@declutteringmymind thanks for the advice. No idea where I could have caught it from - I’m single and haven’t been kissing anyone for a long time and my dm confirmed that I never had cold sores as a child. I kiss my kids (obviously not atm while I’ve got swollen, pussy lips) but neither of them had any signs of cold sores. The biggest bit of it seemed to scare over today then when I was putting the Zovirax on suddenly burst again very dramatically. It’s also now on my top lip and large bruise round my bottom lip where pharmacist pinched it.

Sorry for all the questions but am I ok to wear a mask when out and about? I’m so self conscious of it, it looks bloody hideous and is so swollen now it’s affecting my speech. A PP suggested it was a bad idea as it would be holding the germs/virus against the sore but I don’t think I can face going out and people seeing it.

A mask probably isn't going to do any harm unless it's rubbing on your lip and irritating it. I've never had a cold sore burst open - do you feel comfortable posting a pic so we can see it?

Do you have a local urgent care? I think it would be a good idea to get it looked at by a medic.

Try and keep the mask away from the blisters. The fluid is v v contagious

Also if it's spread on one side, it could be shingles. Best to let a professional have a look.