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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Can You Buy Inhalers Over the Counter in the UK?Director & Superintendent PharmacistReviewed on 28 Jun 2023Approximately 160,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with asthma every year, with asthma sufferers making up around 12% of the population — that’s roughly 1 in 8 people.The typical person diagnosed with asthma will carry an inhaler around with them, an inhaler being a small handheld device that delivers medication directly to the lungs to help manage asthma symptoms.Inhalers help people with asthma to breathe more easily by reducing airway inflammation and opening up constricted airways, providing quick, short-term relief during asthma attacks and helping to prevent symptoms over time.Why types of inhalers are available?Asthma inhalers typically fall into two categories, offering either short-term relief or long-term symptom management: the latter are referred to as preventers, whereas the former are called relievers. Some inhalers provide a combination of short and long-term relief, and these are naturally dubbed combination inhalers.Reliever inhalersAs the name suggests, reliever inhalers are designed to provide immediate, effective relief from asthma symptoms. They’re typically used when someone is experiencing — or feels they may be about to experience — an asthma attack, relaxing the muscles in their airways and making it easier to breathe. Reliever inhalers include Ventolin and Salamol, and they’re almost always blue.Preventer inhalersPreventer inhalers are also appropriately named, since they’re used for the long-term prevention of asthma attacks. If you have asthma, you should use a preventer regularly (even when you have no symptoms) to reduce your risk of suffering an attack. They typically contain corticosteroids and work by reducing inflammation in the airways. Preventer inhalers include Clenil, Qvar, and Symbicort. They’re usually brown or red.Can I buy inhalers over the counter?No inhalers licensed for the treatment of asthma or other pulmonary conditions are available to buy over the counter (OTC) in the UK. Asthma inhalers are prescription-only medications, and therefore you will need to be assessed and formally diagnosed by your doctor before you can be prescribed a reliever or preventer inhaler. However, if you have been diagnosed with asthma and you’ve already been prescribed an inhaler to relieve your symptoms, you may be able to purchase replacement or spare inhalers online without having to book a follow-up appointment with your GP. At The Independent Pharmacy, for example (a trusted online pharmacy regulated by the Care Quality Commission), you can request an additional inhaler by completing a short online consultation. Once our medical team is satisfied that you require the inhaler, you can have it delivered to your door, possibly even the next day.Can you buy Ventolin over the counter?Ventolin — a reliever inhaler which provides fast relief from asthma symptoms — is a prescription-only medication,
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