We all experience multiple types of pain throughout our lives. Bee stings, sunburns, and skinned knees are all examples of acute, short-term pain, but pain can also be chronic. Chronic pain comes from underlying inflammation that for some reason has become long-term.

Pain is actually a protective mechanism — pulling away from a hot stove prevents us from getting burnt when cooking, and chronic pain can be our body’s way of telling us that something is out of balance. Pain becomes a problem, however, when the underlying causes aren’t easily corrected.

Compounding pharmacists can work with you and your physician to find a medication therapy for your pain, no matter what type of pain it is.

Pain can have many different origins and the medication used needs to address its origin. Therefore, the treatment for nerve pain should be different than the treatment for an inflamed knee. Compounding pharmacists understand how to choose the best dosage form to target the specific type of pain you’re experiencing.

For example, topical creams can be compounded to help relieve the pain caused by sunburns or other skin injuries or reactions. Transdermal creams, which allow medications to penetrate deeper can be used when pain stems from shingles, other types of nerve pain (neuropathy) or a knee/joint injury.

It’s important to discuss the type of pain you’re having with your pharmacist and physician so they can understand if they are working with nerve pain, inflammation, or muscle pain. This will help them determine the correct medications — and delivery method — for your individual situation.

Compounding pharmacists can also help you find the right supplements to help decrease inflammation, which can help reduce chronic pain. They can also work with your doctor when pain stems from an autoimmune condition to find the right prescription to calm down this attack on your own cells.

Living with painful conditions can be tough. Addressing the cause and/or therapy for pain can be like putting together a difficult jigsaw puzzle. Compounding pharmacists are experts at solving problems. If you want something different to address your chronic pain, ask you physician to work with your compounding pharmacist today.

Originally posted by the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding and Partnership for Personalized Prescriptions. Read the original.