The management of pain often presents a major challenge to the patient, physician and pharmacist. Utilizing drug compounding techniques, patient pain management often can be improved. 

Pain medications can be compounded into formats other than pills and capsules. This allows for ease of administration. 

Prescription analgesic nasal sprays, chewable gels, suppositories, lolly-pops and lozenges can be easily compounded. 

Pain relievers can be incorporated into a variety of transdermal gels that allow for the absorption of the drug through the skin. 

Various oral analgesic drug combinations can be combined into a single format thus eliminating a potential over-dose situation. 

Murray Avenue Apothecary can compound a variety of prescription analgesic drugs in a wide array of user-friendly formats.

A number of medical conditions frequently are associated with chronic pain. Management of that pain with drugs is often difficult and, at times, can cause serious side-effects.

In recent years, a unique approach to relieving chronic pain has emerged on the therapeutic horizon, namely transdermal therapy.

Transdermal therapy consists of incorporating a variety of pain relieving and/or anti-inflammatory drugs into one of a number of transdermal bases including pluronic lecithin organogel (PLO).

The transdermal base allows the active ingredient(s) in the compounded medication to be absorbed through the skin.

While the compounded medication can be applied directly to the pain site, at times, more effective relief may be obtained by application of the medication to a specific pain “trigger point” on the surface of the skin.

With the utilization of transdermal bases, local concentrations of the active medications can be achieved that are higher than those obtained using oral or injectable routes.

Transdermal therapy for chronic pain relief reduces drug side-effects because the patient’s kidneys and/or liver exposure to the active ingredients is eliminated or greatly reduced. Further, gastrointestinal difficulties, that are often seen with the oral administration of pain relieving and anti-inflammatory drugs, are eliminated.

A number of medical conditions, often associated with chronic pain, that may be treated by utilizing a transdermal delivery of active medications include, among others: 

* Bursitis 
* Cranio-facial neuralgia 
* Diabetic neuropathy 
* Epicondylitis 
* Gout 
* Nausea and vomiting 
* Neuropathic pain 
* Psoriasis 
* Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome (RSDS, RSD) 
* Sport injuries 
* Tendonitis 
* TMJ 
* Trauma to wrists, ankles, fingers and toes 
* Vascular diseases

Medications that can be administered transdermally include, among others:
Analgesics- Capsaicin, Dextromethorphan, Guiafenesin

Anti-Inflammatories- Amitriptyline, Caramazepine, Cyclobenzaprine, Diclofenac, Flurbiprofen, Hydrocortisone, Ibuprofen, Indomethacin, Ketoprofen, Naproxen, Nortriptyline, Piroxicam

Treatments for Nausea- Metoclopramide, Ondansetron, Promethazine, Scopolamine

Local Anesthetics- Bupivacaine, Lidocaine, Prilocaine, Tetracaine

Membrane Stabilizers for peripheral neuropathy- Baclofen, Caramazepine, Dilantin, Gabapentin, Phenytoin, Tegretol

Muscle Relaxants- Baclofen, Cyclobenzaprine

NMDA (n-methyl-d-aspartate) Agonists- Dexamethasone, Guiafenesin, Ketamine

Vasodialators- Clonidine, Guanethidine, Nifedipine, Nitroglycerine, Pentoxphylline