Pharmacy Compounding: How Does It Work and What Are the Benefits?
Pharmacy compounding is the science behind the creation of medication that is customized to meet your individual requirements when it comes to crucial aspects such as strength and dosage.
There are a number of clearly defined solutions attached to the idea of compounding pharmacy solutions and it could turn out to be the solution you are looking for when off-the-shelf standard market drugs don’t deliver the answer you need.
Here is a look at how pharmacy compounding works and what the benefits are.
How is compounding performed in a pharmacy?
Compounding is a practice that can be carried out by a licensed pharmacist.
Their aim is to combine and mix ingredients of a drug in order to create a medication that is unique to an individual person’s medical needs. It is also possible that the pharmacist might alter certain ingredients as part of the preparation process.
There are a number of basic steps that are taken to complete the compounding process.
The process starts with a check on the completeness and authenticity of the proposed recipe. Any discrepancies or missing information will then be checked with the doctor or the patient directly.
Once this information has been verified, the pharmacist will start to calculate the drug dosage required and check that the drug interactions are good. The final stage involves a calculation of the right amount of drugs and excipients that need to be used.
What benefits are associated with pharmacy compounding?
One of the primary benefits relating to the concept of compounding is that it has the capacity to provide a unique solution that any of the recommended standard marketed drugs have failed to do.
The problem with standard drugs is that every person is different when it comes to the efficacy of certain drugs and their level of tolerance. Taking a bespoke approach through compounding means that the pharmacist can create medication that is specifically designed to work for each individual patient.
It is often the case that compounding is suggested as a viable option for medical reasons. It might be that a patient needs a non-essential ingredient to be removed because it causes them to have an allergic reaction. Compounding makes it possible to alter ingredients to alleviate this problem.
Another reason to go down the compounding route is when a patient needs to receive an exact dosage of a drug, which would not be possible with mass-produced marketed drugs.
It is also possible that a patient needs to use a compounding pharmacy for more optional reasons. A good example of this would be when a patient has difficulty taking medication in capsule form, so the pharmacist produces the same medication in a cream base form instead.
You also change the taste and color of medications. This can make it easier to persuade children to take their medication.
Conclusion
As you would expect, strict quality control measures are applied throughout the compounding process. Stringent safety protocols are always expected and observed with pharmacy compounding. That is a fundamental reason why it is considered to be a safe and viable medication solution when regular marketed drugs are not appropriate, or ineffective.
