Pain is inevitable. Suffering doesn’t have to be.
Pain is the most common symptom for which people seek medical help. Acute pain can easily turn into chronic pain, which can be difficult to treat.
There are many commercially available pain relief medications that help with the chronic pain of conditions such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, and other nerve and muscle pain, but they can also have unwanted side effects like drowsiness, dizziness or stomach irritation.
While many patients just accept these side effects as the cost of pain relief, there may be a better solution for them: pharmacy compounding.
Compounding is the preparation of customized medication. It provides valuable benefits to many patients, including those for whom dealing with chronic pain has become a way of life. Because it’s personalized to the specific patient, compounded medication can treat symptoms while avoiding certain side effects. By working with a compounding pharmacist, your physician can prescribe treatments tailored specifically for your pain management needs.
Some have difficulty taking pain medications in their commercially available forms due to stomach irritation or other side effects. Compounding can provide alternative methods of delivery to make the process easier. Instead of a capsule or tablet, a topical gel, cream or spray can be compounded to be applied directly to the site of the pain and absorbed through the skin. Also, dosage forms like nasal sprays, custom-flavored troches that dissolve under the tongue or suppositories are alternative possibilities.
These dosage forms bypass the gastrointestinal tract, helping patients with stomach irritation as well as those who have difficulty swallowing pills. In some cases, these delivery methods may allow for a smaller dose of the drug to be taken, which can reduce side effects like dizziness and drowsiness.
Some chronic pain sufferers, such as patients with fibromyalgia, are placed on a variety of medications – which means taking multiple drugs. Compounding can make it possible for these patients to get all their medications in a single preparation, which is much more convenient.
Because patients vary in size, symptoms and pain tolerance, commercially available medications sometimes may not provide the appropriate dosage strength for an individual patient. Through compounding, a physician and pharmacist can customize the dosage to the exact amount the patient requires, and find a dosage form that best suits the patient’s needs. Pain can be debilitating, whether it’s acute muscle or nerve pain resulting from an accident, or a chronic condition such as arthritis or fibromyalgia. Pharmacy compounding may help improve a patient’s quality of life by providing relief with potentially fewer side effects and less overall medication.
A caring health care provider working closely with a compounding pharmacist can help manage chronic pain. Ask your health care provider or pharmacist about compounded medications today.