Compounding
What is Compounding?You probably know what a retail pharmacy is, but may never have had experience with a compounding pharmacy.
Compounding pharmacy is the art and science of creating customized prescription formulas made to order! It serves the purpose of filling in the gaps between what is commercially available and what is needed for a particular patient or condition. Compounds are prescriptions (or over-the-counter medications) that are made especially for a particular patient prescribed by a licensed provider (doctor, dentist, veterinarian, surgeon, NP, PA, ND, etc.). Not everyone fits the “cookie cutter” mold that big pharmaceutical companies manufacture medications for. Compounding pharmacy can make special doses or concentrations, special flavors, special routes of administration, or special combinations of medications prescribed that are not commercially available.
Examples of some compounded medications include: Topical pain medications with anti-inflammatory ingredients or neuropathic pain medications, Concentrated liquids or very dilute liquids for special dosing, Topical management of nausea using a gel that is rubbed into the wrist, Lollipops or lozenges for appetite suppression, nausea or throat pain, Bio-Identical hormone replacement therapy, Discontinued products such as inexpensive quinine capsules, topical nail paint with terbinafine (generic for lamisil) or fluconazole for nail fungus, acyclovir topical spray or lip balm and much more!
When Could Compounding Be Right for Me?
Because each and every patient is different and has unique needs, customized, quality compounded medications are a vital part of excellence in medical care.
The basis of the profession of pharmacy has always been the "triad," the patient-physician-pharmacist relationship. Through this relationship, patient needs are determined by a practitioner or physician, who chooses a treatment that may include compounded medications. Physicians often prescribe compounded medications for reasons that include (but are not limited to) the following conditions:
□ When treatment requires specialized dosage strengths for patients with unique needs (for example, infants or elderly patients)
□ When needed medications are discontinued by or generally unavailable from pharmaceutical companies, sometimes due to the fact that the medications are no longer profitable to manufacture on a commercial basis
□ When the patient is allergic to certain preservatives, dyes or binders in available commercial medications
□ When medications require flavor additives to make them more palatable for some patients, most often children
□ When the pharmacist can combine several medications the patient is taking to improve compliance
□ When the patient cannot tolerate the medication in its commercially available form and can prepare the medication in cream, liquid or other form that the patient can take more easily
□ When the treatment is a combination of several ingredients in a unique dosage form that is best suited to the patient, compounding is very important to the veterinary population, which often requires more flavors, dosages and potencies than commercially available medications can supply
□ And more….
Where Can Compounding Help?
Compounding can be of help in many areas of a person’s life. These include:
□ Allergy and Immunology
□ Andropause (male menopause, or a natural lowering of male hormones in aging)
□ Autism
□ Cardiovascular Disease
□ Colon/Rectal problems
□ Dental
□ Dermatological
□ Ear, Nose and Throat
□ Family Practice
□ Gastroenterology
□ Hematology
□ Hormone Replacement Therapy that mimics what is produced by the body, also referred to as BHRT
□ Hospice Care
□ Infectious Disease
□ Libido
□ Menopause – including pre-menopause, peri-menopause and post menopause
□ Neonatal/Prenatal Medicine
□ Neuropathy
□ OBGYN
□ Oncology
□ Orthopedics
□ Palliative Care
□ Pain Management - Our compounding pharmacist can offer many unique options for pain management, regardless of pain origin and whether pain is acute or chronic. By working together with patient, physician, and other members of the health care team, we can individualize medications and make necessary adjustments to maximize pain relief.
□ Pediatrics
□ Podiatry
□ Rheumatology
□ Sports Medicine
□ Urology
□ Wound Care
□ Veterinary
Our pharmacists can research a particular topic for you and provide information if you are interested in finding out more before talking with your physician. Reference and informational resources are available by request. Our pharmacy in
Dosage Forms
Pharmacy Express Compounding Centers focus on meeting a patient’s special needs. We want the medication to be palatable and convenient to use, otherwise, the patient may stop a needed treatment that their doctor has prescribed. Many patients have trouble taking certain medications in their original form. One way we customize medications is by altering the dosage form. There are many ways to take a medication and we want to make sure we can find the most effective outcome, if that means changing how a prescription is administered. For example, if a baby cannot take a liquid orally, we can sometimes make that medication into a cream to rub and absorb into the skin and into the bloodstream.
Some of the dosage forms available to the compounding pharmacist include:
Capsules – immediate and slow (sustained) release, Creams, Drops, Effervescent Flavored Powders, Foams, Gels, Gummy Treats, Nasal sprays, Lip balms, Lollipops, Lozenges, Nail Paints, Ointments, Pastes, Powders, Rapid Dissolve Tablets, “Rectal Rockets”, Solutions, Sprays, Sublingual tablets or drops, Suppositories for Rectal or Vaginal Use, Suspensions, Tinctures, Topical liquids, Transdermal Creams and Gels for Systemic delivery of medications, Troches
Ask your Pharmacy Express Pharmacist Today if Compounding is right for you.
