Over a hundred years ago pharmacists were known as apothecaries. A large part of their job was to extract the active ingredients from raw material to make up medicine.

If you need medication tailored especially for you, a compounding pharmacist might be just the ticket.

Today, medicines are available in a pure form. But 100 years ago medicines were derived from natural sources such as roots and leaves. After grinding down the raw ingredients with a mortar and pestle, apothecaries would extract the active ingredients with water or alcohol, in order to make their potions. You can still see the symbol of the mortar and pestle used in many pharmacies today.

Today, pharmacists with experience in compounding are few and far between: instead the vast majority of medicines are manufactured and packaged by pharmaceutical companies.

Compounding pharmacists can help:

• Patients who require a very small dose, such as infants;
• Patients with an impairment or disability who can’t take the medication in its usual form;
• To change the taste of medicine to make it more palatable;
• To make up medications which aren’t in stock, or are unavailable.

Want to find your nearest compounding pharmacy? You can search for a chemist that specialises in compounding, by following this link to Yellow Pages.