Medicine has grown exponentially in the last hundred years. Everything isn’t just a tincture or a pill, there are dozens of ways to take medication, and they all have their pros and cons.
Here are seven of the most common types and how they release the drug into the patients’ bodies.
Oral Disintegration
Oral disintegration tablets are most similar to what many people would recognize as Tums. Patients can chew these, or patients can leave them to disintegrate into the saliva.
This type is best for medications meant to help intestinal issues or are generally meant to be fast-acting. At times, patients can take the controlled release through oral disintegration to speed the effects, much like aspirin is chewed at the first sign of a heart attack to help against clots and symptoms.
Customized Release
The customized release is a type of hard pill that has a perforated line in the middle. These can be taken wholly at full dosage, or patients can break them in half to lower the dosage.
This pill type can help muscle relaxers, sleeping medication, and other pills where dosage may vary wildly between patients. It’s best when the perforated edge goes deep to ensure even arthritic patients can handle it.
Taste Masking Solutions
Taste making solutions are medications in powdered form that can be poured into a liquid glass and then consumed. This option is easier for small children and people who generally don’t like taking pills. The liquid moves the medication quickly through the body like how oral disintegration does, without actively having to chew the tablet.
Controlled Release
Controlled release, developed by companies like Adare Pharmaceuticals France, is a medication that you swallow whole, and it takes its time to dissolve. This style may be in capsule or tablet form and can come in a wide variety of shapes and colors. Most people think of controlled release medication when they’re thinking about medicine.
Injectable Delivery
From flu shots to epi-pens, injectable delivery is exceptionally flexible. Using a needle, this medication is injected directly into either the bloodstream or subcutaneous fat so that it can dissolve quickly. This action is the best way to target the bloodstream and the immune system and is the least wasteful since none of the dosages can be lost in the digestive tract.
Oral Delivery
Oral delivery tinctures are excellent for sinuses, allergies, and almost anything, like the eyes, ears, nose, and throat. Although the taste may often leave something desired, it’s usually because of the fluid the medication is suspended in. Commonly this flavor is either alcohol or oil-based and doesn’t do well at masking the medicine itself’s taste.
Intratympanic Delivery
This is the least common type of delivery on this list. Intratympanic delivery is a medication injected through the eardrum directly into the middle ear space, absorbed by the inner ear. This injection type is a lot more intense and is for patients who can’t find relief any other way for migraines, allergies, or other ailments.
