Ointment

An ointment is a viscous semisolid preparation used topically on a variety of body surfaces. These include the skin and the mucous membranes of the eye (an eye ointment), vagina, anus, and nose. 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:

Hydrocarbon bases e.g. hard paraffin, soft paraffin
Absorption bases e.g. wool fat, beeswax
Water soluble bases e.g. macrogols 200, 300, 400
Emulsifying bases e.g. emulsifying wax, cetrimide
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

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

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 - Emulsion of oil and water in approximately equal proportions. Penetrates stratum corneum outer layer of skin well.
Ointment - Combines oil (80%) and water (20%). Effective barrier against moisture loss.
Gel - Liquefies upon contact with the skin.
Paste - Combines three agents - oil, water, and powder; an ointment in which a powder is suspended.
Powder

Translation of "Ointment"

Arabic: مرهم, Catalan: Pomada (farmàcia), Czech: mast, German: Salbe, Spanish: Ungüento, French: Pommade, Italian: Pomata, Latin: Unguentum, Luxembourgish: Salef, Limburgian: Zalf, Dutch: Zalf, Japanese: 軟膏剤, Norwegian (Bokmål): Salver, Polish: Maść (medycyna), Portuguese: Pomada, Russian: Мазь, Tagalog: Ungguwento, Ukrainian: Мазь, Chinese: 软膏剂.