page_title: Topical medication
section_title: Ointment
hierarchical_section_title: Topical medication / Classes / Ointment
caption_attribution_description: English: Cruz Roja ointment metal case Español: Pomada Maravillosa de la Cruz Roja Unguento Envase de metal con tapa http://elmodo.mx/
context_page_description: A topical medication is a medication that is applied to a particular place on or in the body. Most often topical administration means application to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes to treat ailments via a large range of classes including creams, foams, gels, lotions, and ointments. Many topical medications are epicutaneous, meaning that they are applied directly to the skin. Topical medications may also be inhalational, such as asthma medications, or applied to the surface of tissues other than the skin, such as eye drops applied to the conjunctiva, or ear drops placed in the ear, or medications applied to the surface of a tooth. The word topical derives from Greek τοπικός topikos, "of a place".
context_section_description: An ointment is a homogeneous, viscous, semi-solid preparation, most commonly a greasy, thick oil (oil 80% - water 20%) with a high viscosity, that is intended for external application to the skin or mucous membranes. Ointments have a water number that defines the maximum amount of water that they can contain. They are used as emollients or for the application of active ingredients to the skin for protective, therapeutic, or prophylactic purposes and where a degree of occlusion is desired.
  Ointments are used topically on a variety of body surfaces. These include the skin and the mucous membranes of the eye (an eye ointment), chest, vulva, anus, and nose. An ointment may or may not be medicated.
  Ointments are usually very moisturizing, and good for dry skin. They have a low risk of sensitization due to having few ingredients beyond the base oil or fat, and low irritation risk. There is typically little variability between brands of drugs. They are often disliked by patients due to greasiness.
  The vehicle of an ointment is known as the ointment base. The choice of a base depends upon the clinical indication for the ointment. The different types of ointment bases are:
  Absorption bases, e.g., beeswax and wool fat
  Emulsifying bases, e.g., cetrimide and emulsifying wax
  Hydrocarbon bases, e.g., ceresine, microcrystalline wax, hard paraffin, and soft paraffin
  Vegetable oil bases, e.g., almond oil, coconut oil, olive oil, peanut oil, and sesame oil
  Water-soluble bases, e.g., macrogols 200, 300, 400
  The medicaments are dispersed in the base and are divided after penetrating the living cells of the skin.
  The water number of an ointment is the maximum quantity of water that 100g of a base can contain at 20 °C.
  Ointments are formulated using hydrophobic, hydrophilic, or water-emulsifying bases to provide preparations that are immiscible, miscible, or emulsifiable with skin secretions. They can also be derived from hydrocarbon (fatty), absorption, water-removable, or water-soluble bases.
  Evaluation of ointments
  Drug content
  Release of medicament from base
  Medicament penetration
  Consistency of the preparation
  Absorption of medicament into blood stream
  Irritant effect
  Properties which affect choice of an ointment base are:
  Stability
  Penetrability
  Solvent property
  Irritant effects
  Ease of application and removal
  Methods of preparation of ointments
  Fusion: In this method the ingredients are melted together in descending order of their melting points and stirred to ensure homogeneity.
  Trituration: In this finely subdivided insoluble medicaments are evenly distributed by grinding with a small amount of the base followed by dilution with gradually increasing amounts of the base.
caption: Metal case for Cruz Roja ointment from Mexico (beginning of the 20th century) from the permanent collection of the Museo del Objeto del Objeto.
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