Ibuprofen is probably the most popular pain killer but the pills may harm the stomach so scientists came up with the alternative Ibuprofen patch.
- Ibuprofen patches are a good alternative for people sensitive to the oral pills
- The patches deliver a dose of the drug with a long lasting effect of up to 12 hours
- More different drug patches are expected to be created after the ibuprofen patch proves its efficiency
Whether you have a muscle pain or a headache, you usually rely on Ibuprofen to sooth your pain. However, for some of us who are more sensitive, the oral pill can cause problems to our stomach. This is one of the reasons why an ibuprofen patch has been developed by a team of researchers at the University of Warwick.
The patch delivers a concentrated dose of Ibuprofen directly through your skin. Although there are also some Ibuprofen gels used for the skin, the patch gives a more controlled dosage. Plus, its effect should last for up to 12 hours. The drug load in the patch can be 5 to 10 times higher than the dose found in gels.
The patch is transparent and doesn’t necessarily interfere with your look. The ibuprofen is incorporated at the back of the patch into a polymer matrix. The matrix is the one that adhered to the skin, being a bit sticky.
Although so far, scientists have been trying to improve the gel ibuprofen by making it more permeable through the skin, the patch should work a lot better. There are other patches used for delivering other types of medicine. The most well-known are the nicotine patches which are usually used by people who try to quit smoking. Scientists are hoping to use the same technology to create patches for other drugs as well. However, they are waiting to see how well these ibuprofen patches work. If the results are satisfactory, the patch could be the start of a whole new era in pharmaceuticals.
Besides getting rid of the problems oral ibuprofen could cause the ones of you who are more sensitive, the patches are also a very good way to get rid of localized pain, especially when it comes to muscles and arthritis. If you have muscle pain you can stick the patch over the area that hurts; in this way the medicine will enter your skin and will rapidly sooth your pain.
All in all, the ibuprofen patch is a great alternative to the pills and if it really works as expected, we will most definitely see other drug patches pretty soon.
Image source: www.pharmpro.com
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