Let us look at the 5 most common types of compounding formulas:

1. Scar Creams:

Compounding creams are mainly used by doctors to treat patients who have scars and require personalized medication. As each individual have different type of skin conditions and severity, commercially available creams may not be as effective in some people and in some cases, it can also cause an allergic reaction. Compounding allows the dermatologist to make highly effective customized medication for the treatment of scars in the form of creams.

2. Rapid Dissolve Tablets:

Rapidly dissolving tablets (RDT), sometimes called orally dissolving tablets (ODT), dissolve quickly when placed under or on the tongue. Compounding medication in the form of rapidly dissolving tablets (RDT) helps patients (including pets) who cannot chew or swallow on their own. Most mixtures only take a few seconds to completely dissolve, which makes it easy to take the medication.

3. Oral Liquid Vehicles

Oral liquid Vehicle (OLV) can be defined as compounded medication in the form of liquid. This liquid form of medication is especially useful for infants, the elderly, and pets who have difficulty swallowing pills.

4. Hormone Supplements:

Hormone supplements help in balancing & improving hormonal levels in the body. They are commonly used to treat diseases such as menopause, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, gender reassignment, and certain reproductive disorders. There are two forms of hormones: synthetic and natural. Most of the hormones are available in commercially available formulas, the doses don’t always match a patient’s medical condition or body needs.

5. Oral Lozenges:

The term oral lozenge is used to define dosage forms that are prepared to slowly dissolve in the mouth primarily within the oral cavity. It can contain an anesthetic, a demulcent, or an antiseptic. Lozenges are flavored to taste good and contain one or more active ingredients and help patients a pleasant and alternative dosage form who are unable to swallow other types of solid dosage forms.

Compounding allows doctors and pharmacists to micro-adjust the dose and changes the delivery format that suits best for the patient. Bioidentical hormones are made by a compounding pharmacist as per the prescription provided by the patient’s doctor. Bioidentical hormones resemble the hormones created by the human body leading to reduced side effects and high efficacy.