The Rationale for Compounded Topical Analgesics

“Compounded topical analgesics” is a significant gray area, with regulations. But compounding topical analgesics is essentially taking medicines that by themselves work and are used in healthcare for a variety of reasons, and putting them together in a topical cream based on the prescription of a healthcare provider.

What are the issues with topical analgesics?

• They’re very expensive
• They’re often not covered by insurance
• There’s very little data that supports utilizing them together in this fashion, and administering peripherally
• Many of these medicines work in the brain and spinal cord; how they might work when administered peripherally in a localized area is not well defined

What practitioners should know:

• What’s available—salicylate containing products, capsaicin, etc
• What the key ingredients are
• Patients may be using over-the-counter products and not telling their provider: Providers Must ASK
• Topicals can be quite effective if we know what we’re targeting and where