If you are a parent, you have probably been through the ageless ritual of trying to get your children to take their medication. As adults, we understand that swallowing pills or doing other things that may be unpleasant may be a part of life in order to obtain some sort of benefit or relief. Children, on the other hand, often do not. Pills can be hard for them to swallow, and many commercially available flavored syrups do a poor job of masking the unpleasant and bitter taste of many medications.

Making Medicine Look Like Candy

Fortunately for parents who are struggling to get their children to take their important medications, a compounding pharmacist can be of assistance. Compounding is the process of taking medications and customizing them into various forms to meet the individualized needs of patients. We can work with your child’s pediatrician to compound the medication into a form that your child will love to take. Some examples of the alternative forms of medications we can create in order to help your child stay or get healthy include:

• Lollipops
• Gummies
• Oral suspensions
• Effervescent tablets

While making medication easier for children to take is a significant benefit of compounding, there are other benefits that are just as important. Many children require very specific doses of their medication because of their smaller bodies, and the dosage that they need may not be commercially available. Cutting pills into pieces often results in an inaccurate dosage, which, at best, will result in your child getting too much or too little of his or her medication. In some cases, it may even be dangerous. A compounding pharmacy can create products that provide your child with the exact dosage he or she needs in a form that is easy to ingest. Another significant benefit of having your medications compounded is that your pharmacist can create products that are free from potential allergens such as dyes, lactose, gelatin, or alcohol, ensuring that your child does not have an adverse reaction to his or her medication.

Call 856-323-8723 or stop by today for more information.

At Kress Specialty Apothecary, we are qualified to compound a wide variety of medications to meet our patient’s individual needs. In addition to working with people, we also are available to compound medications for pets. To learn more about our services, call us today at 856-323-8723 or stop by our location in Barrington, NJ.

Many people are concerned about harmful chemicals and additives in their food and household products, so they turn to the organic section of their grocer. Not only can organic products be healthier but also better for the environment and more trustworthy around your children. One product for which you may not consider an organic option is skin care. Many people buy mainstream skin care products and makeup without realizing the amount of potentially harmful chemicals they are putting directly on their delicate skin. Because your skin is your first impression when people see you, you want to ensure you have the healthiest skin possible.

While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does regulate personal care products and cosmetics, the agency has approved many products with a variety of chemicals. Some chemicals that may be in your skin care products include the following:

• Nitrosamines
• Triclosan or triclocarban
• Formaldehyde
• Cyclomethicone
• Alcohol isopropyl (SD-40)
• Mercury
• Dioxane
• Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)
• DEA (Diethanolamine), MEA (Monoethanolamine) & TEA (Triethanolamine)
• Sodium Hydroxide
• Parabens
• Color additives
• Fragrances

Many of the above chemicals can dry out or irritate your skin instead of giving you the fresh, youthful glow you want. In addition, your body can absorb toxins through your skin and they may affect your overall health.

If you want your skin to be as healthy as possible, read labels carefully and avoid any products with potentially harmful chemicals. To be especially careful and avoid the constant reading of labels, you could select certified organic skin care and cosmetic products. However, many organic skin care products may still use synthetic preservatives, emollients, emulsifiers, humectants, and/or surfactants that can still damage the skin or threaten your health. For this reason, you want to make sure your products are all-natural, even if they have an organic label. If you are looking for effective and safe skin care products, you should consider discussing your needs with a specialty apothecary who understands the risks associated with certain products and can help you avoid them.

Call 856-323-8723 or stop by for more information today

Our NJ specialty pharmacy has many options for organic skin care, as well as products to make you happy and proud of your appearance and overall health. We can make recommendations based on your individual skin care needs and can even design special formulas for you if necessary. Please call Kress Specialty Apothecary or stop into our store today for more information about our products and services.

It’s all too easy to reach for a pain pill, whether over-the-counter or prescription, when you are faced with a headache, toothache, or back pain. This can be a natural reaction because, of course, these medications can provide relief. But they can also have unwanted side effects with usage over extended periods. Recent studies also indicate that oral medications for pain relief are not as effective as you are often led to believe.

If you suffer from post-exercise muscle aches, headaches, or even a chronic pain condition, there are alternative sources of effective relief available. One such alternative is topical analgesics. These topical pain relievers come in many different forms – including creams, lotions, patches, and gels – that our compounding pharmacists at Kress Specialty Apothecary can tailor to your individual needs. This process takes your personal patient profile into consideration by factoring in your size, health, allergies, and personal preferences.

Why Use Topical Medications

There are several good reasons to try a topical alternative to your oral pain medications. The most important factor is the fact that topical medications often have fewer physical side effects than oral pain medications. Anti-inflammatories and other over-the-counter medicines have specific negative effects associated with them, including:

• Nausea;
• Sudden bleeding;
• Increased risk of stroke;
• Increased risk of heart attack;
• And liver problems (acetaminophen).

On the other hand, topical medications, when used appropriately and as directed, generally have very few side effects associated with them. In addition, topical pain relievers can be faster acting and you will usually know right away if the topical is working for you. Topical medications can also be applied directly on the source of your pain and some current research even suggests that topical pain medications provide longer lasting relief than oral medications do.

Your doctor can also prescribe a prescription topical pain reliever if it better suits your health needs.

Contact Kress Specialty Apothecary for a Topical Pain Medication Consultation

Topical pain medications can be a safe and effective alternative to oral pain medication. These topical solutions can further be personalized to your needs through compounding. Contact one of our specialty pharmacy professionals today by either stopping in our store location in Barrington, New Jersey or by giving us a call at 856-323-8723. If you’ve never tried a topical pain reliever or if you’d like to explore finding safer and more effective pain relief, we are here to guide you.

With the New Year in full swing, you may be in the process of planning a spring break getaway or even your annual summer family vacation. If you are like most people, when you think about planning a trip, you think about choosing a destination, making travel arrangements, choosing activities, and setting a budget. It is important to remember, however, that if you regularly take medications, you may need to plan for that as well. Here are some of the issues to consider.

Storage

Some medications, particularly those in liquid form, need to be stored at a certain temperature to ensure their effectiveness. Whether you are traveling by plane, car, train, or boat, you need to make sure that your medications are stored at an appropriate temperature. It is a good idea to invest in a high-quality cooler if there is any risk that your medications will be exposed to temperature extremes at some point in your trip.

Legal Issues

If you are crossing state or international lines, it is important to make sure that you are not breaking any laws. For example, if you use marijuana for medical purposes legally in a state that allows it you should make sure that the state into which you are traveling also permits the use of medical marijuana. Failing to do so could result in significant legal trouble. Generally speaking, you can travel throughout the United States with prescription drugs that you validly possess, but you should always research taking these drugs into foreign countries or returning to the United States with medications that you purchased overseas.

Planning Ahead for Long Trips

If you are traveling for weeks or months, it is a good idea to make sure you travel with a quantity of your essential medications that keep you from having to fill a prescription away from home. In many cases, you can get an early refill from your pharmacy (and covered by your insurance) if you are going to be traveling for an extended period of time.

Call 856-323-8723 or Stop by Today for More Information.

Kress Specialty Apothecary is a compounding pharmacy located in Barrington, New Jersey that provides a variety of services and products that cannot be found at “big-box” retail pharmacies. We can compound medications into various easy-to-take forms including liquids, gels, chewables, sublingual drops, and even lollipops. In addition, we offer a full line of pharmaceutical grade vitamins and supplements. To learn more, stop by our store or call us today at 856-323-8723.

Athletes of all ages can be injured during practice or competition – it is simply a risk of playing sports. However, sports also provide many benefits for a healthy and well-rounded lifestyle, so many athletes continue to take the risk of getting injured. When an injury occurs, it is critical to provide the most effective course of treatment so they can return to playing sports as soon as possible. Many treatment plans involve medication and compounded medication should be considered over commercial medication in many situations.

Every athlete is different with regard to weight, muscle mass, allergies or reactions to certain medications, and severity of injuries. Compounding allows a pharmacist to specifically tailor the combination of medicines, the dosage, and the best method of administration for the particular athlete and injury. What works quickly for one athlete will not necessarily work for another and compounding provides the opportunity to find personalized solutions for sports injuries.

Some examples of sports injuries that can be treated by compounding include:

• Joint injuries
• Pain relief
• Dehydration
• Athlete’s foot
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Hemorrhoids
• Malnutrition
• Electrolyte imbalances
• Muscle cramps
• Wounds
• Inflammation
• Tendinitis

Athletes commonly suffer from soreness and pain from overuse of their muscles and joints and working closely with a compounding pharmacist can help you recover faster after a practice or game so that you can continue to perform to the best of your ability.

Professional or college athletes are not the only ones who can benefit from compounding. Even recreational or novice athletes will experience pain or injuries after participating in a sport. Commercial medication may simply mask the pain and may not address the underlying problem. Our compounding pharmacists look for solutions to all of your health needs to provide the best possible overall treatment. We can also make suggestions for health products or weight loss supplements if losing weight and getting healthy is your overall goal for playing sports. For this reason, athletes do not have to wait until they are injured to explore how compounding can help them.

Call 856-323-8723 or stop by today for more information.

At Kress Specialty Apothecary, compounding gives us the ability to help you and your family in many aspects of your life. Whether we can compound a medication for your sports injury, skin condition, or advise you on supplements for your overall health, we are certain we can find solutions for you to live your best life. Please stop by our store or call us today.

It is difficult enough when you have a sick child to worry about, but when you cannot get your child to take the medicine they need, the situation becomes even more stressful. Whether it is a problem with the bitter taste, with swallowing a large pill, or with allergic reactions, many children have aversions to taking medicine. The stress of having a sick child is only compounded by the common problems associated with kids and medicine.

Kress Specialty Apothecary is here to help make caring for your child’s health easier. Pharmacy compounding combines the science of modern medicine with the art of customizing medications for the individual patient – your child. Because children’s taste preferences are as individual as they are, our compounding pharmacists are at your service with a host of agreeable flavoring options. They will work with your child’s preferences to create a flavor that helps the medicine go down. After all, it is far easier for children to tolerate medications with pleasant flavors like bubblegum and tasty berry than it is for them to handle the generic bitter flavor of most children’s medications.

Our compounding pharmacists, working closely with a pediatrician, can flavor-customize medications for your child’s conditions, including:

• Pain relief;
• Respiratory disorders;
• Strep throat; and
• Many other childhood illnesses.

Compounding can also help with your child’s medications in a variety of other ways. Many children have difficulty swallowing pills but a compounding pharmacist can render the medication in many different forms, including liquid, lollipops, topical gels, gummy treats, fizzy drinks, and many others that all provide the appropriate dosage in a palatable form. Additionally, commercially manufactured children’s medications often contain ingredients like gluten, soy, sugar, and dyes to which many kids are allergic or sensitive. Our pharmacists can sidestep those ingredients that adversely affect your child and personalize a formula that is right for your child’s treatment needs.

Contact Kress Specialty Apothecary about Your Child’s Medications Today

It is a fact of life that kids get sick. But when they do, you want to do everything you can to ease their discomfort and stress as easily and quickly as possible. Providing your kids with the medicine they need in a flavor they love is a great place to start. If you need help with your child’s medications, please visit Kress Specialty Apothecary in Barrington, New Jersey or give us a call today at 856-323-8723.

If you’ve ever had influenza, or the “flu,” you understand that it’s much more serious than your average cold. The flu can cause extreme fatigue, fever, chills, and keep you from feeling like yourself for weeks on end. In severe cases, it can even land you in the hospital.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the flu spreads by droplets that occur when a person sneezes, coughs, or speaks or when a person touches an object that has the flu virus on it and then touches their nose or mouth. Flu season varies each year, but begins to peak between December and February, and has the potential to last through May.

With flu season firmly here, it is important to take steps to protect yourself from getting sick. You should always get a flu shot, but there is a chance that a different virus could still make you sick. Other steps to take include always washing your hands and staying away from people who seem sick.

Probiotics May Help

In the unfortunate event that you get the flu this year, there are certain steps you can take to reduce the severity and duration of your symptoms, including adding probiotics that act as immune boosters to your daily health regimen. According to the results of a study published in 2009, children who received Lactobacillus acidophilus or L acidophilus NCFM in combination with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp lactis Bi-07 had the following reductions in symptom incidence, respectively:

• Fever – 53% and 72.7%
• Coughing –4% and 58.8%
• Rhinorrhea – 32% and 84.2%

Notably, test subjects who received probiotics had significantly fewer days absent form child care (31.8%, 27.7%) than those receiving placebo treatment.

At Kress Specialty Apothecary, we offer a variety of probiotic supplements that may help people who are suffering from colds, influenza, or other issues. Of course, you should always discuss your treatment options with your physician and consider the risks and benefits associated with any action concerning your heath.

Call 856-323-8723 or Stop by Today for More Information.

Kress Specialty Apothecary is a New Jersey compounding pharmacy located in Barrington, New Jersey. We offer our own line of pharmaceutical grade supplements and vitamins as well as all of the other medications that would you expect to see at any retail pharmacy. We also compound medications into creams, gels, liquids, even lollipops and are able to provide dosages that are not available on the mass market. To learn more, stop by today or give us a call at 856-323-8723.

There is no doubt that the way our skin looks and feels can affect our mood. On the other hand, our mood can certainly affect the condition of our skin. Both dermatologists and psychiatrists have long been trying to determine the ultimate cause of psychodermatological conditions and to determine the most effective way of treating these complex disorders. However, they often run into many challenges when recommending treatment.

It is one thing for a psychiatrist to recommend to a patient already seeking psychiatric care that they may want to visit a dermatologist for any related skin conditions. After all, a dermatologist seems relatively harmless as far as medical professionals go and patients are likely eager to clear up skin problems. The reverse, however, is not as easy. A patient who has visited a dermatologist likely does not want to hear that they may need psychiatric treatment. In fact, a patient may even take offense to the suggestion and will likely resist seeking such treatment. For this reason, dermatologists should always be aware of the implications that psychological conditions may have on the skin and how they can be connected.

There are a number of skin conditions that are legitimately affected by psychological state of mind, which can include psoriasis, acne, alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis, pruritus, hyperhidrosis, lichen simplex, and rosacea. These are not the only psychodermatological disorders that exist and dermatologists should consider psychiatric health when treating patients.

How Pharmacists can Help

Patients with these disorders are often on several different medications to treat several aspects of their condition, both psychological and dermatological. These medications can often interact with one another and a pharmacist should always play an active role in managing a patient’s medication regimen. A pharmacist can do the following and more:

• Screen for adverse interactions between drugs
• Educate patients about their medications and the importance of adhering to their prescribed regimen
• Identifying any side effects to medication that may be causing or worsening skin problems

Call 856-323-8723 or stop by today for more information.

At Kress Specialty Apothecary, our pharmacists are always learning about new disciplines and trying to find ways that compounding can best help our patients suffering from complicated disorders. We develop a personal relationship with our patients to ensure they receive the best possible effects from their medication. We can also help to compound individualized medications to prevent side effect or interactions with other drugs. Please call today to discuss your needs with a pharmacist today.

Most women pay very close attention to their health and nutrition while they are pregnant. There are long lists of what you should eat and should not eat, what supplements you should or should not take, and much more. Once you have your baby, you are all of a sudden thrown into a world dictated by their schedule (or lack thereof) and their wants and needs. It is all too common for the diligent attention to nutrition to fall by the wayside a little in favor of convenience due to exhaustion. However, if you are breastfeeding your child, your nutrition is just as important now as it was when you were pregnant.

As in pregnancy, everything you eat and drink can have an effect on your child’s health and well-being. The following are only some steps you should take to improve your nutrition and you should always follow the advice of your doctor.

• Watch what you eat – Eating well is at the heart of nutrition and you should focus on a diet that is balanced and free from potentially harmful toxins, such as mercury or pesticides. In addition, though you may want to risk to lose baby weight, breastfeeding requires that you increase your calorie intake so your body has enough energy to make breast milk and provide other care for your new baby.
• Stay hydrated – Drinking plenty of fluids will prevent dehydration and will help with the production of your breast milk. Focus on water and other pure fluids, as drinks with too much sugar or caffeine can affect the health and mindset of both you and your baby.
• Consider supplements – Many doctors may recommend that you keep taking your prenatal supplements while you are breastfeeding. In addition, you can discuss additional vitamins or supplements that can help if you are not getting all of your nutrition from food for some reason.
• Limit your alcohol – While it can be possible to wait for alcohol to pass through your system before you breastfeed, this process is slow and your child may need to eat when you still have alcohol in your breast milk. So, you should always be cautious.

Call or stop by today for more information!

Our compounding pharmacists can not only work with you to improve your nutrition while you are breastfeeding but we can also tailor medications to meet the specific needs of your baby. We can personalize medications and supplements based on dosage, taste, and more, so please call Kress Speciality Apothecary at 856-323-8723 or stop in to speak with one of our pharmacists today!

It’s often been said that men have difficulties raising health concerns to their doctors, or taking their own health seriously, until they are hit with some sort of dangerous ‘wake-up call’. Traditionally seen as providers, it is important that men treat their physical well-being as serious as they do other issues in life.  To avoid issues getting out of hand, and possibly get around the doctor’s visit as a whole, let’s take a look at some common male health issues that can be avoided.

Heart Disease. The leading cause of death in the United States, heart disease is a dangerous illness that should never be underestimated. There are several steps that can be taken to lessen the risk of heart disease, such as eating heart-healthy foods and losing weight over all. Smokers have a higher chance of getting heart disease, as do those who have high levels of cholesterol and blood pressure. Taking action to prevent heart disease in these ways is good for your all around health, and can help prevent several other illnesses on this list as well!

Skin Cancer. Many men spend high amounts of time outdoors, working on the lawn, playing sports or other nature activities. This can be a great way to get exercise and improve your health overall, but can also open you up to a vulnerability for skin cancer. It’s recently been announced to be the #1 cancer in men over the age of 50, and some studies point to men’s skin being more sensitive than women’s.

To prevent skin cancer, men should regularly wear sunscreen, spend less time outside when the sun is brightest, say 10am to 4pm, and cover up while outside with hats, tight-knit clothes, and sunglasses.

Sleep Apnea. While the first sign of this dangerous condition often comes when a man’s partner complains of his disruptive snores, that isn’t always just an irritating habit, but a sign of something far more troubling. Sleep apnea can result in stroke, heart disease, and diabetes, and happens when the person (often a man) briefly stops breathing during the night.

Common signs of sleep apnea, in addition to snores, include waking up with a headache or scratchy throat, sleeping restlessly and never getting a good night’s sleep, or waking up multiple times during a night. It can be prevented by losing weight, also through exercise and dietary changes. Even little changes like avoiding sleeping on your side can help! It can also be lessened through an avoidance of tobacco and alcohol, as well as sleep medication.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease. Generally recognized with the acronym GERD, this common disease causes heartburn and acid reflux from common ‘guy foods’ such as greasy and spicy foods, as well as red meat (steaks) and beers. Besides just being an uncomfortable nuisance, GERD can cause serious esophageal damage. As well as avoiding those particular foods, losing weight is another important way to lessen the effects of GERD, as well as stopping smoking.

For more information on avoiding or treating these five issues for yourself or a loved one, or any health concerns you may be facing, call us at Kress Apothecary at 856-323-8723 or stop by today for more information. We pride ourselves on individualized attention to our patients, and you can rest assured that at Kress, you’re family.