7 Common Types of Medication Administration Forms to Know

Getting the right types of medication. A quick consultation with your pharmacist can help them determine the best way administer medication.

Pharmacists have goals: to provide you with the highest quality and correct types of medication to safely and effectively treat your medical condition. They keep in mind what some call the “5 Rights”, ensuring the medicine created is:

• Going to the right patient
• Is the right types of medication
• The right dose
• Tells the patient the right time to administer medication

The final “R” is associated with the right administration route. Pharmacists follow rights like these to prevent medication errors.

Most pharmacists take even further precautions by implementing even more “rights.”:

• The right documentation
• The right history and assessment
• The right to refuse
• The right evaluation for drug interactions
• The right education and information offered to you

Pharmacists implement these extra “rights” so that you completely understand the medication you are taking.

How Pharmacists Choose the Correct Form

Route of administration decisions are often based on the part of the body being treated, how the drug works once consumed, and the ingredients that make up the drug.

There are numerous common types of medication administration forms, each of which your pharmacist will consider based on your needs and preferences. You must understand each route also so when working with your pharmacist; you can give them insight into how you prefer to take your medicine.

Below, we provide information on the seven most common types of medication administration forms.

1. Tablet Form

Tablet forms are created by compounding ingredients in powder form into a solid, round, or oval-shaped pill. They typically contain binding agents, medicine, and agents that help dissolve after ingestion. They can also be dissolved in water before consumption. Some people do this because tablets take longer to work and must travel through the digestive system before it goes to your bloodstream.

Types of tablet forms are called sublingual and buccal forms. With a buccal form of administration, you place medicine on the inside of your cheek and let the drug dissolve. Sublingual forms require you to dissolve the medicine under your tongue. The lining of the mouth needs to absorb these medicines.

Additional types of tablet forms include compressed, sugar-coated, film-coated, effervescent, enteric-coated, and chewable.

2. Capsule Form

Capsule forms of medication are recognized by the gelatin coating that holds the drug. The gelatin or plastic shell coating dissolves faster than tablet forms. This is why some people prefer to use this type of administration. Depending on the medicine, you may empty the contents into food or water to make consumption easier.

Other than plastic or gelatin capsules, your pharmacist may also choose starch, pullulan, polyvinyl acetate, liquid-filled, or HPMC that need low humidity.

3. Powder Form

Powder forms of medication are dry, loose medicines. They are super fine drug particles that are mixed with water or food right before consumption. Many prefer powder forms of medicines because they don’t stay in the digestive system as long as tablets and capsules.

4. Liquid Form

Some types of medication come already dissolved in liquid form. There are various types of liquid forms, including syrups mixed using water and sugar, elixirs mixed with alcohol and water, and suspensions that are crushed medicines mixed in a liquid of choice. There are also injectable types of liquid forms that require special needles for administration.

Another liquid form is drops that require a dropper to release medicine. Droppers are usually given for the eye, ear, and nose, and sometimes mouth.

5. Topical Application Form

Topical forms of medication administration are also known as creams, lotions, and ointments. Your pharmacist mixes your medication with other substances that make it easy to apply. Lotions are the least greasy or sticky of the three. With each form, you rub the medicine onto your skin at the point of need.

Transdermal medication is absorbed through the skin, like with implants and patches. They help the medication release slowly so you can have a more extended period of relief. An example includes pain patches given to those with chronic pain.

6. Inhalant or Spray Form

If your doctor wants to get medicine directly to your lungs, he may ask your pharmacist to deliver an inhalant or spray form of administration. These types of medication are released under pressure into your mouth or nose. Some inhalers are developed to use as needed; some have metered doses for those who need to administer medication every day.

Inhalants and sprays are used on the area you are trying to treat. For example, nasal sprays are used in the nose. Because the medicine doesn’t have to travel through other parts of the body, lower doses can be given. This also means fewer side effects will be experienced.

7. Suppositories

Suppository forms of medication administration are created by pressing your medicine into a bullet-shaped tablet. The tablet is inserted anally and melts with the heat from your internal body. Suppositories can be made for three areas: vaginal, anal, and urethral.

Because suppositories do not pass through the digestive system, you don’t experience nausea and stomach irritation that tablets and capsules can cause.

Getting The Right Types of Medication

Now that you know some of the more common types of medication administration routes, you may be wondering where to start. First, talk to your pharmacist. As mentioned before, there are multiple factors to consider.

Your pharmacist will need to know your preference but also why you prefer a particular route. For instance, if swallowing is a problem, liquid forms may be better. If the taste is a problem, your pharmacist may be able to add flavoring.

Final Thoughts

If you have a pharmacist who can compound medicines right there in their lab, even better. Compounding allows your pharmacist to take into consideration all your unique factors to create a one-of-a-kind formula.

A quick consultation with your pharmacist can help them determine the best types of medication administration form for your health. The ultimate goal is to do whatever it takes to help you stay on track with your medicine so you can enjoy improved health. So go ahead and make an appointment with your pharmacist soon to discuss your medication options.