Put on and medicines

I know that 'kusuri o nomu' is take medicine, but how do you express the ideas with creams or ointments that you 'put on' vs 'drink/take orally'?

So, for example, if I want to say: "I put the ointment on..." (or "I used the ointment"...) what would I say?

I believe 塗る (nuru) is the verb you are looking for :)
(I'm not Japanese so if there's a better alternative please feel free to correct me ^^)

"Put on" is well used, but I was confused because we japanese use other verbs in each situation.

For example, "put on a hat" is "boushi wo kaburu".
Kaburu is used when you move things from the upperside to you.
"put on gloves" is "tebukuro wo tukeru".
Tukeru is used when you attach somethig from every direction.
"put on socks" is "socks wo haku".
Haku is used when you move things from the bottom.

Really troublesome.

You can also say "kusuri o tsukeru" which means "put on medicine" including either the meaning "spread on" and "apply on like a dot".