There was a time where all pharmacies were compounding pharmacies. There were no big pharmaceutical companies that mass-produced and manufactured all these drugs we all know now. Every medication was freshly made and customized to what the doctor prescribed.
But with the influx of big pharmaceutical companies, it seems as though compounding pharmacies became extinct. That is not true at all – compounding pharmacies are still around,
What is a Compounding Chemist?
In its most basic understanding, compounding pharmacies create and provide medications for people in a precise way. The “compound medications from scratch” on-site following the doctor’s prescription. Patients who go and seek compounding pharmacies are usually the ones who can’t buy and use manufactured medications due to several reasons like:
- Specific dosages that are not commercially manufactured
- Allergy-friendly and other substitutes to ingredients a patient cannot tolerate
- Alternate forms of medication like liquids, ointments, capsules, etc.
Benefits of Compounding Chemists
Compounded medications can be made allergy-friendly.
Some commercial medications contain ingredients that in some patients may cause, an allergic reaction. These manufactured drugs are made with dyes, fillers, preservatives, and even alcohol that could worsen a patient’s condition. Compounding chemist can remove certain ingredients and create a better formula so that patients can still get the treatment they need.
Compounding pharmacies can create alternate dosage forms.
Not everyone can swallow a pill or have time to pour medications in liquid form every day. But sometimes, patients won’t be able to find a manufactured alternative. This is where compounding pharmacies come in.
They can offer other dosage forms catering to the patient’s specifications. They can even compound medications into creams and gels if the medicine can be absorbed by the skin and into the bloodstream. They can also compound medicines in a pleasant flavour, making sure you get the right treatment without the bad taste.
Compounding pharmacies offer unique services.
The utmost priority of a compounding pharmacy is to identify and to provide for the patients’ unique requirements. This is why they make sure that they do the research well; to research the best active ingredients, to determine a formula, and develop the method to compound the medicine that the patient needs.