We are commonly asked “What is compounding?” Many years ago, every time you took a prescrip­tion from your doctor to your pharmacist, all of the ingredients in that prescription were mixed together by the pharmacist. Your doctor ordered a treatment for your ailment and your pharma­cist compounded the prescription to meet your needs.

As the years went by, pharma­ceutical manufacturing became a big business. More and more products were made so that the consumer could simply buy a product off the shelf or doc­tors could prescribe a pre-made product and the pharmacist simply had to count it out or pour it out and dispense it. From the patient’s and the pharmacist’s point of view, this made it much faster to fill prescriptions. From a doctor’s point of view, they no longer had to write a “recipe” down, they simply had to prescribe a product that was effective for the condition they were treating.

There is no question that pharmaceutical research has improved and extended patients lives. Many conditions that were untreatable many years ago are now routinely treatable. Anti­biotics now cure infections that were almost always fatal 50 years ago. Pain medication now con­trols unbearable pain that people have suffered from for years.

So, what is the problem? The problem is many people and pets can’t take manufactured products due to an allergy or other condi­tions, or the dosage in the manu­factured product isn’t correct for that patient. Also, sometimes a patient needs a different dosage form than what is commercially made.

Let’s start with allergies. When a pharmaceutical product is made, it contains much more than the active ingredient. For example, your doctor prescribes you 500mg capsules of an anti­biotic to treat a sinus infection. The capsule not only contains the 500mg of antibiotic, it also may contain fillers to fill the capsule, dyes to make it look pretty, bind­ing agents and chemicals to make it last longer. If you have an al­lergy to one of these ingredients, you will not be able to take it. Also, if you have a medical condi­tion that one of the ingredients is contraindicated in, you will not be able to take it.

Next, let’s look at dosage and dosage forms. Imagine a product is manufactured in four different strengths. These strengths have been determined to be effective in most adults. What happens if a child needs it? What happens if veterinarian needs to use it in a 10 pound dog or a 500 pound horse? What happens if the product is only made in tablets and a patient needs a liquid form because they can’t swallow pills? What if the product is made in a liquid form, but the product contains sugar and the patient is diabetic? What happens when the demand for a product falls below what the pharmaceutical company deems to low for them to make money and they stop making the product? We could go on and on.

This is where compounding comes in. In a compounding pharmacy, products are made from scratch to help solve medi­cal problems. We are able, with a doctor’s order, to solve dosage problems. We are able to make liquids, tablets, capsules, supposi­tories, creams, gels, ointments, nasal sprays, eye drops and injec­tions. We can make products sugar free, dye free and preser­vative free. We can make tiny dosages for a premature baby or giant doses for a 2 ton elephant.

Jersey Shore Pharmacy is a full service pharmacy. We fill prescriptions like any other pharmacy as well as specialize in human and veterinary compounding. We take almost all insur­ance plans and we offer free delivery to Egg Har­bor Township, Northfield, Somers Point, Linwood, Mays Landing, Ventnor, Margate and Longport. We also have convenient drive through service and well as a full line of over the counter products, vitamins, diabetic needs, medi­cal supplies, greeting cards and lottery.

We welcome any questions you may have. Feel free to con­tact us via phone or e-mail with any questions or any future topics you would like us to cover.