Pain Management
Pain Management Compounded Medications at Summers Pharmacy
Each person is unique and experiences pain differently, so we must create an effective and customized treatment plan for each individual. As we learn each patients’ pain issues, we can formulate unique compounded pain management medications to provide relief. We can tailor your pain management medications to your needs and can easily change the ingredients, dosages, and the form of the medicine. There are many options to receiving pain management treatment, and topical formulations may be the best solution for your specific needs.
What is Pain Management?
At Summers Pharmacy, we take pain management seriously and want to provide our patients with the best health care possible. Pain management is a part of medicine involved in helping relieve chronic and acute pain. We focus on prevention, diagnosis, and a treatment plan so you can expect exceptional service.
Topical Pain Management
We work with you and your healthcare provider to choose the form of medicine that would work best for you. Whether you want topical gels, creams, solutions, or sprays, we can find a great alternative to traditional tablets and capsules. Topical pain management formulations help solve the issue of pain without dealing with the downsides of traditional pills, such as stomach irritation and drowsiness. Our compounding pharmacists are experts and specialists in creating completely customized pain relief products. Take charge of your pain, and let us help find a solution that works for you.
Pain Management at Summers Pharmacy
Did you know your pain can be managed with more than a pill? Other medication preparations can be used locally on the site of pain to help provide relief. We make neuropathic pain creams, anti-inflammatory creams, combination lidocaine creams, creams for sports injuries, iontophoresis solutions, Low-Dose Naltrexone capsules, wound creams, and topical sprays — just to name a few.
Whether you are suffering from “acute” pain, which usually results from tissue injury, inflammation, or a disease state, or “chronic” pain, which persists over a long period of time from a disease, we can compound medications for your specific needs. There are many compounded medications we can make specifically for your to help relieve your pain. Topical pain gels are made with bases that can penetrate deeply into the skin to block pain at the nerve source. The top layer of the skin, the epidermis, is a strong barrier to keeping chemicals from entering the body. It takes specific bases to be able to penetrate this barrier. Some examples of these bases are liposomal creams or pluronic lecithin organogels (PLO).
Pluronic Lecithin Organogel (PLO)
This microemulsion is the gold standard of transdermal delivery systems. PLO is a combination of pluronic gel (the water phase) and lecithin/isopropyl palmitate (the oil phase). It delivers drugs across the epidermal barrier by combining the water and oil phases in specific ratios. The water phase acts as a skin penetration enhancer, and the oil phase increases the drugs solubility and improves the absorption through the skin.
Liposomal Cream
Liposomal cream is a liposome-containing base and is much smoother and creamier than PLO gel. It is used to increase the permeation of various active ingredients. It is a stable system that does not separate when refrigerated and tolerates ionic substances well.
Traditional oral drug therapies can have detrimental side effects that prohibit their use. Some of these adverse effects are addiction, pruritis (rash), constipation, nausea, vomiting, and respiratory depression, which can prove fatal. Other serious side effects from oral pain medications are cardiovascular issues, like high blood pressure or heart attack, gastrointestinal bleeding, and even renal (kidney) failure. Compounded pain gels offer practitioners a viable treatment option with decreased systemic side effects that can improve the quality of life. Many forms of pain are due to inflammation, which is often localized to one part of the body or site of injury. In cases such as these, transdermal pain gels are a great option.
A few of the active ingredients in our pain management compounds include:
Lidocaine, Tetracaine, Benzocaine, Bupivacaine & Prilocaine are topical anesthetics that help numb pain.
Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) decrease inflammation. (Examples: Ibuprofen, Ketoprofen, Diclofenac, Piroxicam, Flurbiprofen, Naproxen, Indomethacin, Baclofen & Cyclobenzaprine help reduce pain by relaxing muscles and also has an anti-spasmodic effect. Dexamethasone, Clobetasol, Triamcinolone, and Methylprednisolone are steroids that bring down inflammation. Gabapentin works by calming the firing of nerves and blocking the signal.
Amitriptyline, Imipramine & Doxepin block pain by inhibiting norepinephrine reuptake.
Aminophylline, Arginine, Pentoxifylline & Nifedipine are peripheral vasodilators that increase blood flow to the site.
Diphenhydramine, Topiramate, Verapamil, Phenytoin, Orphenadrine, Magnesium Chloride, Carbamazepine, Dextromethorphan & Amantadine are all drugs that block different neurotransmitters, thus reducing pain signals.
Acyclovir is an anti-viral that helps with shingles pain.
Ketamine helps reduce pain by inhibiting the pain signals being sent to the brain.
Other: Capsaicin, Clonidine, Colchicine, Guaifenesin, Menthol, Camphor, Tramadol, Morphine & Hydromorphone.