Why everyone is trying out stick-it-on patches

From acne to chronic pain relief, the market for transdermal patches is growing. Mint explores the science, and reasons for this growing interest

- Aditi Sarawagi

It was a severe vitamin D3 deficiency that introduced Yashovardhan Kanodia, 35, co-founder of East Star Financial Advisors in Kolkata to vitamin patches. Racked by aches and pains in his body, he needed something that could provide him with immediate relief, and pills weren't doing that. "It takes a long time for oral supplements to work on vitamin D deficiency and with my busy schedule running a financial consultancy, I often don't remember to take the pills and the vitamin patches from Patch Up looked promising for me to try. I am all for new, more efficient (wellness) tech," he shares.

There are a range of patches available in the market today catering to a range of problems from pain relief to motion sickness, acne patches, and hormonal replacement therapy (HRT). These patches are more formally referred to as 'transdermal patches' or 'skin patches' as they use a Transdermal Drug Delivery System (TDDS). TDDS, in simple words, is a system that delivers the drug to the body through the skin through medicated adhesive patches worn on the skin. The first transdermal patch, Scopolamine, for motion sickness, was approved in 1979 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The arrival of nicotine patches in 1992 led to transdermal patches being widely accepted. Today, patches are being considered as effective as any other form of medication and many Indian brands are catching up to make TDDS readily available to the Indian consumer.