Topical medications are medications applied onto the body to treat various ailments. Most commonly, they are applied to skin, where the medicine either treats only the area of application or is absorbed into the bloodstream through the dermis.
Topical medications comes in the following forms:
Pastes
Ointments
Oils
Creams
Gels
Tinctures
Powders
Sprays
Key points:
Check expiry data before use
Highlight any short expiry dates as a reminder to all personnel involved in care recipients care
Record the date started and the expiry date after opening. Some packaging does not allow the pharmacy label to be placed on the product e.g eye drops. In these circumstances the outer packaging will have to be endorsed with the date of opening. It is essential that the product remains in the outer packaging throughout the duration of this treatment.
Procedure for care recipients unable to apply their own prescribed topical medication:
Wash hands
Explain the procedure to the client
The care recipient must provide their consent to medication before administering.
Check expiry dates of medication
Give medication via the appropriate route
Wash hands again
Complete Topical Medication Record (Topical MAR) for each topical medication prescribed, ensuring you are filling out the body map.
Send back Topical MAR on the 1st of each month via QA sheet collection form.
Topical medication record example
Table of Suggested Expiry of Topical preparations from Date of Opening
NB Due to the lack of available evidence on generic expiry dates of creams/ointments the following expiry dates are suggested.
As a guide the following table shows the difference in suitable quantities of topical creams/ointments as opposed to topical corticosteroids for an adult: