How to identify pills?

Medicines come in various forms and pills are one among them. There are various types of pills that vary from one another in color, shape and size. While, it is possible for some people to identify some of the commonly used pills, others may not be able to do so. It may happen that you find some stray pills in your kid's bedroom or some leftover pills in one of the cupboards, while cleaning the house. It is difficult to identify stray pills and drug abuse by the kids may become a cause of worry for you. Instead of questioning your kid, it is better to identify the pill by other means. Scroll down to know more about how to identify pills. 

Pill Identification

Identifying pills can be a little tricky affair and most of us may find it difficult. There is no universal guideline regarding the identifying marks for pills, which is the reason behind the manufacture of a wide range of pills, with various colors, shapes and sizes. While some of them are imprinted with the names of the drugs and medications, which makes their identification easy, others lack this characteristic. Some drugs, like, medicines for heart-related conditions, usually come in heart shape. But, this is not applicable for most of the other medicines. All these factors make it difficult for an ordinary man to identify medication. However, you don't have to panic. There are some clues in the pills that can help you in pill identification. These clues include the shape, color, size, markings and design of the pill in question. The following guidelines are about how to identify pills with the help of such clues.

• One of the easiest methods to identify pills by markings, is to enter the information about the pill (color, shape, size, markings, design, etc.) into an online pill identifier. There are various authentic pill identifier sites, which can help you in this task.
• If these sites fail to identify the pill, you may resort to the following method. All you have to do is to send an email to the relevant wing (Division of Drug Information) of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), seeking help to identify the pill in question. You have to provide them with drug description and usually, they respond within a day.
• If you are in a hurry to identify pills, then you may approach a doctor or pharmacist in your vicinity. They will be in a better position to identify pills compared to an ordinary man.
• If you suspect that the pill is some illegal drug, you can use websites which are specifically designed for identifying such drugs. Even the police department can help you, as there are officers, who are experts in identifying illegal drugs.

Now you know that you can identify pills by number, color, shape, number, etc. So, from now onwards, you don't have to worry about how to identify pills. However, you can prevent such medication mistakes, by keeping a record of medicines and their identifying marks, along with photos. This is more applicable for caretakers, who have to take care of the medications of another person. You may also keep the fact sheets that come along with these prescriptions drugs. Such records can help you in identifying a pill, in case of medication mistakes. However, it would be better to avoid intake of stray pills, even if the pill is identified through any of the above said sources.