Your head is pounding during math class, but you know there’s no use going to the nurse’s office. She can’t give you any medicine to get rid of the splitting pain.

That’s right. No Motrin, no Advil, not even a cough drop — unless parents send in an unopened bottle of the drug with a signature and a doctor’s note, according to Montgomery County health department guidelines. There must a be more efficient way for students to get over-the-counter medicine at school.

In some other school districts, parents sign notes at the beginning of the year that grant nurses permission to administer over-the-counter medication to students at the nurse’s own discretion. Because high school students are old enough to know which medicines they should and should not take, Montgomery County high schools should implement a similar policy.

Starting in middle school, students are allowed to perform “self-care,” which can include using contact solution, Band-Aids or Vaseline. High school students are also allowed to drive themselves home from school early (if parents excuse their absence) when they don’t feel well. With this level of independence, it makes sense to allow students to take over-the-counter medications at school.

Whitman nurse Julie Olson said she’s frustrated when she can’t help a student with a problem as simple as needing cough drop. She also can’t let students use Neosporin because it might cause an allergic reaction. But if parents could give permission for students to take these medicines, allergies wouldn’t be a concern.

Olson emphasized that though the regulations aren’t her choice, she’s not willing to lose her nursing license over such a small issue. So when students ask for Neosporin, she tells them to wash the cut with antiseptic soap, dry it and recommends that they use Neosporin themselves when they get home. But if parents allow their children to use the medication at home, there’s no reason not to allow it in school.

The potential for allergic reactions to over-the-counter medication is one argument against this policy. But Olson said parents would be signing for specific medicines and would be aware of which medicines were available to their child.

Though a permission slip wouldn’t completely protect the county from a lawsuit, there wouldn’t be much risk of one if nurses were distributing the medication, since nurses would likely provide students with a small and safe dose.

High school students are old enough to monitor their own medication. If a nurse offers a student Tylenol, the student should know whether or not he can safely take that drug.