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Ointment
 
 
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An ointment is a viscous semisolid preparation used topically on a variety of body surfaces. These include the skin
Skin

The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial biological tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and organ s....
 and the mucus membranes of the eye
Eye

Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
 (an eye ointment), vagina
Vagina

The vagina is a fibromuscular cylinder tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles....
, anus
Anus

The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to expel feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest, such as coprolite ; food material after all the nutrients have b...
, and nose
Nose

Anatomically, a nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which admit and expel air for Respiration in conjunction with the mouth....
. An ointment may or may not be medicated.

vehicle of an ointment is known as ointment base. The choice of a base depends upon the clinical indication for the ointment, and the different types of ointment bases are:

  1. Hydrocarbon bases e.g.






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    An ointment is a viscous semisolid preparation used topically on a variety of body surfaces. These include the skin
    Skin

    The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial biological tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and organ s....
     and the mucus membranes of the eye
    Eye

    Eyes are Organ that detect light, and send signals along the optic nerve to the visual system and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in ten fundamentally different forms, and 96% of animal species possess a complex optical system....
     (an eye ointment), vagina
    Vagina

    The vagina is a fibromuscular cylinder tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles....
    , anus
    Anus

    The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to expel feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest, such as coprolite ; food material after all the nutrients have b...
    , and nose
    Nose

    Anatomically, a nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which admit and expel air for Respiration in conjunction with the mouth....
    . An ointment may or may not be medicated.

    Description

    The vehicle of an ointment is known as ointment base. The choice of a base depends upon the clinical indication for the ointment, and the different types of ointment bases are:

    1. Hydrocarbon bases e.g. hard paraffin, soft paraffin
    2. Absorption bases e.g. wool fat, beeswax
    3. Water soluble bases e.g. macrogols 200, 300, 400
    4. Emulsifying bases e.g. emulsifying wax, cetrimide
    5. Vegetable oils e.g. olive oil, arachis oil, coconut oil


    The medicaments are dispersed in the base and later they get divided after the drug penetration into the living cells of skin.

    Ointments are homogeneous, semi-solid preparations intended for external application to the skin or mucous membranes. 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 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

    1. Drug content
    2. Release of medicament from base
    3. Medicament penetration
    4. Consistency of the preparation
    5. Absorption of medicament into blood stream
    6. Irritant effect


    Properties which affect choice of an ointment base are:

    1. Stability
    2. Penetrability
    3. Solvent property
    4. Irritant effects
    5. Ease of application and removal


    Methods of preparation of ointments

    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.

    Fusion: In this method the ingredients are melted together in descending order of their melting points and stirred to ensure homogeneity.

    Topical medication forms

    • Cream
      Cream (pharmaceutical)

      A cream is a topical preparation usually for application to the skin. Creams for application to mucus membranes such as those of the rectum or vagina are also used....
       - Emulsion of oil and water in approximately equal proportions. Penetrates stratum corneum
      Stratum corneum

      The stratum corneum is the outermost layer of the epidermis , composed of large, flat, polyhedral, plate-like envelopes filled with keratin which are the dead cells that have migrated up from the stratum granulosum....
       outer layer of skin well.
    • Ointment
      Ointment

      An ointment is a viscous semisolid preparation used topically on a variety of body surfaces. These include the skin and the mucus membranes of the eye , vagina, anus, and nose....
       - Combines oil (80%) and water (20%). Effective barrier against moisture loss.
    • Gel
      Gel

      A gel is a solid, gelatin material that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute crosslinked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady-state....
       - Liquefies upon contact with the skin.
    • Paste
      Paste (rheology)

      In physics, a paste is a substance that behaves as a solid until a sufficiently large load or stress is applied, at which point it flows like a fluid....
       - Combines three agents - oil, water, and powder; an ointment in which a powder is suspended.
    • Powder
      Powder (pharmaceutical form)

      Powder is a firm pharmaceutical form for the internal or external application, consisting of one or several crushed substances and possessing property of flowability....


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    See also

    • Cream (pharmaceutical)
      Cream (pharmaceutical)

      A cream is a topical preparation usually for application to the skin. Creams for application to mucus membranes such as those of the rectum or vagina are also used....
    • Lotion
      Lotion

      A lotion is a low- to medium-viscosity, topical preparation intended for application to unbroken skin; creams and gels have a higher viscosity. Most lotions are oil-in-water emulsions using a substance such as Cetearyl alcohol to keep the emulsion together, but water-in-oil lotions are also formulated....
    • Liniment
      Liniment

      File:Herb Knudson's Surgical 11.jpgLiniment, from the Latin linere, to anoint, is a medicated topical preparation for application to the skin....
    • Gel
      Gel

      A gel is a solid, gelatin material that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute crosslinked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady-state....
    oinmant are viscous thick (ankit sharma)

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