Hong Kong Pharmacy Shopping
Great For Advanced & Effective
Over-The-Counter Medicine &
Skin Care Products

Hong Kong pharmacy shopping may sound strange to you and, of course, make sure to consult your doctor(s) for any over-the-counter medication.

Over-the-Counter Medicine We Always Buy

For Perry and I, we use certain over-the-counter prescriptions bought from Hong Kong. We know exactly what we want. They work much better and more efficient than any prescriptions in the States. We definitely will spend some time in Hong Kong pharmacy shopping every trip.

The products we buy can be manufactured overseas, such as European drugs, or made in Hong Kong and China. Of course, we will share with you the places with reasonable prices.

Here are the things we always get when we go Hong Kong pharmacy shopping (We put the manufacturing countries next to each medication so that you can see the varieties):

a) Salonpas patch (Japan) - I used to buy tons and tons of them and mailed to Perry before we got married in early 2000. Now, you can get it in the States.

b) Perkinsdol (Germany) - Perry and his dad are the big fans of this ointment for arthritis pain.

c) Coltalin for cold and fever (Hong Kong) - When I was a kid, I used to have this. There was only a drowsy version. In the late 1990s, they started to have the non-drowsy version.

d) "Po Chai" Pills (a traditional Chinese medicine, made in Hong Kong) - for constipation or diarrhea. There are 10 little bottles in each box. Each bottle has around 50 little pills. It is for the digestive system. This medicine always performs magic ('cos I heavily rely on it, especially during summer time). It is better than eating yogurt when you need anything urgent for your digestive system.

e) Ca-C 1000 Sandoz (manufactured in France; invented in Switzerland) - for Vitamin C and Calcium to strengthen the immune system. I just realized that there is something similar just came out in the States about 2 years ago. But this vitamin had been out for more than 15 years.

f) "Nin Jion Pei Pa Koa" Oral Demulcent Sore Throat Syrup 100% natural herbal honey flavored (Hong Kong) - for sore throat. This is another traditional Chinese medicine. It has been out since when I was a kid. I still remember a commercial that famous TV star claimed that she diluted this syrup with water and drank it every day. Was that true or not? Nobody knows. But when I have sore throat, this does help a lot.

The main purpose of the above list is to show you how wide the varieties you can get in the Hong Kong pharmacy shopping. And this is just a very tiny portion.

All the directions of how to use the medicine are in both Chinese and English.

This is a brand new product we bought lately in our Hong Kong pharmacy shopping.  The shampoo and the conditioner use the Chinese herb formula to prevent hair loss

Cosmetics in Hong Kong Pharmacies

For ladies, this is another place for cosmetic shopping . There are well-known brands, such as Neutrogena, Max Factor and other Japanese brands.

You can find some colors that are specially made for Asian women over here. They all have testers which are very nice. When I first moved to the States, I was a bit frustrated of not having any testers at all.

Plus, these brands have facial masks, skin care products with very affordable price that you can never find anywhere in the world.

So, if you can't find anything in other places for your Hong Kong cosmetic shopping, check out the pharmacies for some surprises.

Prescription Drug

Now we know that you can buy a lot of very effective and reasonably priced over-the-counter medicine and cosmetics in Hong Kong pharmacy.  You may want to ask, "Can you buy prescription drug in Hong Kong?"

Oh yes, definitely. 

You must have the script from the doctor, but not the medical insurance.  Throughout my life, medicine is always provided in the doctor's office.  I rarely need to go to the pharmacy to get any until our visit in 2012.

My husband forgot to bring his allergy medicine with him.  So, we went for a doctor visit.  He received a prescription of the same drug with same dosage.  Everything was the same.  The only difference was that we don't have medical insurance in Hong Kong.  Nobody in Hong Kong needs medical insurance.  Trust me.  Hong Kong people only buy medical insurance for protecting their families instead of for themselves.

We went to Watsons.  Amazingly, we got the medicine and paid for way less than what my husband uses to pay in the States.  And I mean it.  Without medical insurance, we only paid 1/4 of the total price versus paying the price in the States with medical insurance.  We walked out of the store less than 5 minutes.

Through this trip, my husband finally believed and agree with me that Hong Kong healthcare is definitely cheaper and better than he used to get in the US.

For more information about Hong Kong Healthcare, click here.

Hong Kong Pharmacy Shopping - The Stores

Here are some big Hong Kong pharmacies:

1) Watsons and Manning - These 2 giant chain stores can be found all over in Hong Kong. They are under the same companies of the 2 big supermarket chains, Park N Shop and Wellcome respectively.

I was in one of the Watsons stores one time where they had a special counter, kind of like the Avon's, for a short period of time. I spent USD13.8 (HKD108) for a bottle of make-up remover, called MP17, which is made of bird nest. "Man, oh man"....My skin could never be better after using it for 30 days. Nonetheless, I feel so guilty of using stuffs with the ingredients of bird nest in the long run. After finishing that bottle, I stopped buying it.

It's not surprising to see these 2 giants, Watsons and Mannings, next to each other.

2) CR Care - This is another Hong Kong Pharmacy Shopping chain store which is much smaller in scale compared to the above 2. They specialize in the Chinese medicine. Their stores are mostly located in areas where rent is not that high, such as the Western District in Hong Kong Island and the New Territories.

Last time, I was in one of their stores. I saw a shampoo made of a Chinese herb which is believed to boost your hair growth.

To some people, Chinese medicine does not look very appetizing. Some ingredients may look disgusting and expensive. For those whom believe in it, this is a great place to shop.

The name of this company is very trust worthy which gives guarantee of their products sold here.

3) Most small pharmacies with the "Rx" sign are very trust-worthy, too. They are registered and able to give out prescriptions that the doctor offices do not have supply.

WARNING: Medicine shown here are just examples of the wide varieties of the Hong Kong Pharmacy shopping. Any medical question should consult your doctor.

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