Five Health Areas Where Compounded Medications Can Help
In the face of various health concerns, compounded medications are transforming the landscape of healthcare, offering clear and unique opportunities to reassess management and deliver more personalized care. Personalization is a key component, with thoughtful consideration of a patient’s specific needs at the top of mind. With this, it’s important to understand what patient concerns could be positively impacted by compounded medications, so for those frustrated by allergies or sensitivities to certain medications, difficult to use dosage forms, and strengths not suited for their needs, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Let’s explore five healthcare areas where compounded medications can be considered for patients!
Hormone Replacement Therapy
For women over the age of 50, discussions around menopause and the potential future need for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have likely already occurred with their provider. And as women begin to struggle with significant symptoms (with discomfort taking the shape of hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, and sleep issues, just to name a few), commercialized medication is often the route pursued by providers.
However, this form of management doesn’t always cover all patients or are lacking in certain dosage forms or ingredients that patients may need. Using compounded medications in relation to HRT, women experiencing menopause may benefit from tailored formulations that match their unique hormonal needs. But it doesn’t end at menopause: sexual health concerns or pelvic pain conditions could potentially also reap the benefits of compounded HRT through different combinations of hormone or drugs that work synergistically and in dosage forms the patient prefers.
Pain Management
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50 million adults in the US are living in pain, and on a global scale. Adding to that, pain affects approximately 1 in 5 adults, with nearly 1 in 10 adults newly diagnosed with chronic pain each year. With such staggering statistics, the need to find a range of pain management options needs to be identified – especially considering that traditional medications aren’t necessarily the best fit for every patient.
In response, a personalized approach to pain management is often possible using compounded medications, as they can provide opioid-free alternatives, can be made in transdermal dosage forms that deliver the medications directly to the site of pain, and be built in different drug combinations that are specific to the pain issue that the patient may be experiencing.
Pediatric Care
When it comes to children’s health, any parent or guardian would agree that finding medications suited for the individual needs of their child is difficult and frustrating. Common issues a pediatrician sees are instances of thrush, rashes, and dental issues. However, standard prescriptions issued by providers are not necessarily created with some of the unique needs of children in mind.
One of the standout issues is delivery of medication, specifically in the swallowing of pills, or the refusal to take medication due to an aversion to taste. Compounded medications have the potential ability to tackle these issues by delivering medications in a more child-friendly way, with syrups, gummies, and topicals as potential avenues. In some cases, compounded medications can even come in the form of lollipops and gummies!
Dermatology and Cosmeceuticals
One of the major organs of your body, the skin often gets neglected in patient care. However, our skin takes most of the burden as our protective layer to the outside world. Whether a patient is suffering from a skin disorder, wanting to enhance the look of their skin, or simply being proactive to antiaging – patients are faced with an endless task of keeping their skin healthy. Most times, traditional commercialized medications are often the first source of support in assisting patients with their various skin issues, both medically and aesthetically. However, commercialized medications are often a blanketed approach to dealing with these issues.
With this, personalized compounded medications become an opportunity to dive into root causes, which often come in the form of hormone imbalances, extreme stress, diet changes, and more which are contributors in skin health. Believe it or not, gender can even be a contributing factor! By omitting certain irritants or ingredients that patients may have allergies or sensitivities to, compounding for dermatology can increase a patient’s access to the medications they desire for their skin, built in the specific bases they need.
Veterinary Medicine
Tapping into commercialized medications to support good animal health can be very challenging as there is a wide variety of animal species that have unique health conditions and diseases. This spills over into issues with proper dosage for animals, as well as the form of delivery that they are willing and/or comfortable tolerating.
Compounding medication is a unique approach that works to address these issues. Consider the difference in sizes among animals and, with this, the need for serious personalization. Compounded medications can also be delivered in forms that are potentially more comfortable for certain animals, often available in liquid form, gels, treats with varying flavors, and topical formulations.
Gather more educational information about these topics and beyond here: https://revelationpharma.com/blog/category/educational
Disclaimer
The FDA does not review any compounded medication for safety or efficacy. The information contained in this article is not meant to diagnose or treat a specific healthcare condition but should be used as educational-only material.
