Presenter: Natalie Gustafson, PharmD

Original Date: July 21, 2018

The numerous issues with oral analgesics are well known. Many patients do not get adequate pain relief from these medications, while struggling with significant adverse effects that limit their use. Some patients need to take opioids, risking dependence, constant dose escalation and possible addiction just to get pain relief.

Not all pain conditions can be helped with topical pain medications, but many conditions involving neuropathy, spasms, muscle or joint pain can benefit from local application of these analgesics. Studies have shown minimal risk for systemic absorption so minimal adverse effect profile along with higher local concentrations than when used orally to increase benefit. Knowing when these topical pain medications might be useful is a great tool in treating your patients struggling with pain.

This talk will discuss the different medications that have been studied for topical use, along with literature discussion and how they work. Lastly, we’ll go through case studies on how to design these combination topical pain medications for practical use.

1.5 Pain Management CEUs approved by OBNM