annoyed at the advice of pharmasist

[girlfriend44]

Have had to go to the pharmacy for athletes foot cream which has come on recently.
The pharmasist came out and said I would need to throw all my shoes and socks away? Who can afford or want to throw all their shoes away? Cant happen?

I Since read you can wash your socks at 60 degrees and also get spray for your shoes?
AIBU to think was crazy advice?

If pharmacists went on strike. The whole of healthcare would grind to a halt.

They are currently being pushed way too far, are totally undervalued.( as your post demonstrates).

@Alcyoneus well I agree. Glorified pill dispensers has a few people wound up, but GP's are not reliable. They try and upsell in stuff you don't need, they aren't the same as doctors. They'll see you for minor ailments, which yes, you could have just looked up online in most cases.

If they’ve got red flag symptoms then it’s surely best option to tell them to get help asap? Or are you saying you examined them, did a scan and declared them cancer free? You can’t really tell much from an overheard conversation!

Was the patient immune from lung cancer because they were anxious?
The simple fact is many lung cancer sufferers initially present with chest infection symptoms

And for balance, it was a pharmacist that spotted my elderly relatives symptoms matched those for a pulmonary embolism and insisted on getting him a taxi to A&E. they were right.

They’re not necessarily wrong to point out symptoms that could easily be something more serious than the other less serious conditions it also could be. Strictly speaking the most serious causes should be ruled out before being satisfied that an ailment can be treated as something relatively benign. We don’t approach healthcare like that in this country, largely due to lack of resources, but that’s not best practice.

Pharmacists tend to err on the side of caution because if they don't and it turns out it is something serious, they'll be in more trouble than if it's not! They really can't win can they. No one is ever happy.

I don't think you can be annoyed at advice you were given. It is just that... ADVICE. Take it or leave it. But if you reinfect your athletes foot with your rank sweaty trainers then you'll be the one complaining.

@Alcyoneus , How to Become a Pharmacist | Hours, roles & qualifications (cpdonline.co.uk)

IDK what country you're in but in the UK and Ireland, pharmacy is a very regulated profession that's very risk-averse and they certainly aren't supposed to "upsell" anything. Their whole philosophy comes from titration, which is to use the lowest possible intervention of medication to reduce symptoms.
Some are shit but that's not the profession as a whole.

A dispenser doesn't have 1/1000th of the knowledge of science required to effectively work as a pharmacist, that's why dispensers can't work unsupervised even after the large amount of study they have to do to qualify as dispensers.

I don't think pp did miss the point.
Stop spouting rubbish.

And FWIW I've never heard this advice but athletes foot is persistent and binning your socks is actually quite a good idea.

@SisterMichaelsHabit they definitely upsell. As a naive teenager I was upsold a £9 pack of fucking ibuprofen.

They do the same with children's medicine. Just give me the cheap stuff, I don't need any magic soothing nonsense for £7. Minor ailments, you need the most expensive of these identical remedies.

Not doubting their skill set but yes, they absolutely do upsell.

Last year I asked a pharmacist about my thumb, as the skin on one side of my nail had gone all strange and bumpy. He told me that I was in danger of losing the top section of my thumb because it was so badly infected, and I needed an emergency GP appointment. It turned out to be a type of wart, which was completely cured in a few weeks with a bit of Bazuka gel. Not sure I'll trust a pharmacist again!

Yes I did.

FWIW I find my local independent pharmacist brilliant for advice. I also know them now and they know my history which helps. The ones in chain chemists not so much.

At last something you and I can agree on.

Ok 🤦‍♀️

I simply used hyperbole to suggest that athletes foot does not require extreme measures like throwing all your shoes ok.

<checks surrounds- this got weird quickly>

I think if anyone has been upselling it will be counter staff, not the pharmacist as they will usually be at the back of the dispensary.
My daughter is a hospital pharmacist and spends most of her days checking what the doctors are prescribing so they don't harm or kill that patients.
Be grateful next time you or a loved one end up in hospital and someone like her is looking after you. She spent 4 years at university plus and year post graduate to get fully qualified and she has a post grad diploma too. Oh, and she has £85,000 of student loan to pay back too.

Pharmacist also said my son was fine when he had a swelling on his eye that turned out to be periobital cellulitis.

and...

A pharmacist told a very anxious patient a few weeks ago that his chest infection could/sounds like it could be lung cancer and he needs an urgent scan.

Pharmacists, (like GPs) can't win!

A friend who had recurrent athlete's foot took up ironing her socks - I'd say check the fibre first. Cotton yes, nylon more melty... but she does seem to have conquered it without binning her shoes in the end.

Pharmacies aren’t owned by the nhs, they unfortunately do need to make money to cover their service. I don’t necessarily think it’s the best set up but it’s pretty much the same most countries, the professional service is funded by sales. The nhs only pay a small fee per service eg item dispensed item, they don’t pay anything for a pharmacist being available to give advice to people. In the US people pay hundreds to get items such as inhalers. When it comes to children’s medication the more expensive ones are generally more palatable I’ve found!

But not nearly as dangerous in its consequences!!!!!

But my trainers aren't rank or sweaty that's just it.

My trainers are all good quality and I can't afford to throw them away.

But if they’re infected with fungus, and fungal spores, which you can’t see, you won’t get rid of your foot problem!

Eaxctly this. You might not LIKE the advice as you don't want to follow it. Still, it's the advice of the pharmacist you saw. Follow it, don't follow it. Your choice. You might be fine and athletes foot goes away anyway, or it doesn't, and then you need to find a different way to get rid of athletes foot. Not sure why you would get that upset about it. It's just advice..

You don’t have to throw them away, it was purely advice you can take or leave. By their nature trainers are difficult because they have deep, squishy layers that can harbour things and are difficult to treat. They’re also dark and damp which is ideal for fungus. It’s not called athletes foot for no reason! I wouldn’t get rid at this stage either, however I would try and treat them with heat/ antifungal spray and if you keep getting AF despite adequate treatment you might need to re-assess