To think this was poor from the pharmacist?

[Pharmacy1one]

6 weeks or so ago I got two cartilage piercings in my left ear, tragus and helix.

I kept irritating them by turning over in my sleep and my toddler has knocked them a few times too so I was getting those annoying irritation bumps which were tender. I haven't had any pus coming from them, no temperature or discharge, just a bit of clear fluid when i removed them which I know isn't that abnormal.

I went to the chemist and asked to speak to the pharmacist, receptionist asked what the problem was and I briefly explained and said I want to buy something for the inflammation but was hoping the pharmacist could take a look first.

Receptionist relays that to the pharmacist and the pharmacist decided, without looking or even speaking to me at all, that it's infected and I need to go to A&E and get antibiotics and sprays would be no good.

She had her baby with her strapped to her back so I don't think she could have sat down with me in the consultation room in the first place.

I'm a bit miffed as we are routinely encouraged to see a pharmacist for minor ailments to take the strain off of GP's and hospitals, but this is the response I got for trying.

I have PTSD after having sepsis so now I'm scared about an infection that I didn't feel I had in the first place 😔 I can't just rock up to A&E for something like this surely, and there's nobody to have my children anyway.

Do you think I'm being unreasonable for thinking her response was poor?

You raise a valid point. I was looking on reddit before I posted here and came across a similar thread but the OP did go to A&E who didn't do anything IIRC.

We don't have a seperate minor injuries in here unfortunately, when you call 111 and ask for an OOH GP appointment or minor injuries clinic they direct you straight to A&E.

You've come across as mildly unhinged in this thread..

This exactly this

Thats exactly what the pharmacist was doing! Following that protocol for your local area

Op I bet you didn’t expect some of these absolute batshit responses you’ve had from such an innocuous post 😂

So you managed to go to the piercing salon during the week, but can’t go to another pharmacy during the week?

Well that's pretty racist considering how many cultures consider multiple piercings to be a standard part of their culture

When I woke up this morning, you know.. on the weekend.. the piercings which were 'only' sore a couple of days ago were now embedding themselves into my ear and needed to be removed.

Upon removal I wanted to buy something OTC for it because it was sore AF. There was only one pharmacy open locally. The one in my OP.

I must admit it has surprised me and I thought I was used to MN batshittery 😂

It's the weekend in the UK, where OP
is.

“Inflammation” means red, hot and swollen which is definitely not just regular healing for piercings. If you stated your piercings were “inflamed”, then the pharmacist was correct - you’re beyond OTC treatments.

The OP is not a medical professional (I think) and therefore should not be expected to know that inflammation means red and hot and swollen and might use the word just for swollen for example

That's why medical professionals usually do examinations rather than relying on a person's lay description of the problem

Did you hear what the receptionist said? I just wonder if it was a case of Chinese whispers that made it seem like it was full of pus and infected? Otherwise how weird for them not to even look and but also the baby?

I hope the soreness goes quickly xx

Firstly, YANBU and a pharmacist could have said “this is not within my scope of practice” and you could have made a decision about your next steps at least with some information!

I have no idea why some people are being so persistently argumentative. Even if they think YABU, some of the comments you’ve got are beyond ridiculous.

PTSD from sepsis and submission to body piercings IMO is a risky mix

The pharmacist knows their scope of practice.
Was it even a pharmacist with enhanced practice, not all have additional training for advice like this.

Camomile tea is good for soothing inflamed piercings. You can also use warm salt water. With both soak a cotton pad and then hold it over the piercing until it gets cold, then repeat. Do this for about 30 minutes - an hour. It helped clear an infection in my nose piercing.

I don't know if this will work for you but it did for my dd. She had a piercing down to help migraines. The piecer gave us strips of bubble wrap to cover her ear at night with little band aids. Also there is a spray called demablast that helps prevent and stop infection as well as numbing.

What do you think about the AIBU the OP actually asked?

She had her baby with her strapped to her back so I don't think she could have sat down with me in the consultation room in the first place.

Why would she need to sit down to see your ears?

How tall is she? 🤭😁

Pharmacies, though they may be privately owned, administer NHS services and are paid by the NHS for those services.

Exactly the same is true of GP practices.

Though still no reason OP shouldn't use those services! They are aimed at situations just like this to deal with minor complaints without needing to see a GP.

Yup and the NHS pays Boots for providing these services.

If she's squeamish about pus she shouldn't be working in healthcare.

@Allofaflutter It's called broken telephone or whispers down the lane these days