Kickin' It Oldschool
Allow me a second to please confirm something on my calendar. Hold on, yes, it is indeed summertime. That is why it is so puzzling that I would hit you with a quiz right about… now! Question: what is the “symbol” of pharmacy? I’ll give you a moment to let that marinate. Got any guesses? Well, the correct answer is the mortar and pestle. Yes, back in “the day” old-timey pharmacists would mix and grind their concoctions in a mortar and pestle. However, the modern day has brought about mostly pre-made medications and few opportunities to “compound” orders with a mortar in pestle.
I used that rather lengthy introduction to bring up something that occurred the other day in the pharmacy. We received TWO prescriptions for compounds. One was for a steroid/moisturizing cream and the other was for something called “miracle mouthwash.” The lotion just required mixing of equal parts of each of the ingredients, but that mouthwash, oh boy it allowed me to dust off the good ol’ fashioned mortar and pestle and bring it back to pharmacy’s roots.
To begin, I had to crush up five antibiotic tablets, which was a thrill for me to get to use the mortar and pestle to do the crushing. In addition to the tablets, I got to open up some capsules and add that to the mix. I then had to slowly add an antihistamine suspension and mix it all together. Finally, I added water to bring the mouthwash up to the correct volume and voila: miracle mouthwash!
Needless to say, I had a good time turning back the clock in the pharmacy and getting a chance to some hands on compounding experience. Although a rarity in the modern pharmacy, compounding can be fun, especially since I had a whole semester’s worth under my belt from my compounding lab in the spring.
So there you go, my “throwback” day in the pharmacy and all the fun I had making lotion and mouthwash. I can only hope that you are having half of the fun that I had the other day. Take care!