Can Small Pills be Split? We do the Research for you: Explaining Pill Splitters
- 2021-07-20
Yes, if your physician confirms your pill is not an “extended/time release” tablet.
We have an article specifically about: the Best Pill Cutter for Small Pills. The article goes over the right pill splitter to purchase to cut your little pills evenly, quickly, and cleanly
But in this one, we’ll answer commonly asked questions about Pill Cutters; how they work, and our research into the topic.
Table of Contents
Small Pills: How to Use a Pill Cutter
According to our research (Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2021) we’ve come to the conclusion that pill splitting is great for content uniformity for your dosages, and can save you some money!
- As we describe in our article about pill cutters: first place the small pill inside of the grooved edges of the pill splitter. This is how to cut pills accurately.
- Press down firmly on the pill splitter until the top lid closes entirely to the bottom of the pill cutter.
- Please get rid of the two halves of the tablet from the pill splitter.
Splitting your pills is a great way to take a lower dose of your prescription medication; saving you cash. You can even ask your insurance company if they offer savings incentives if you split your prescription small pills, you never know, depending on where you live, you could be in luck.
Does Cutting Pill Half Lower Dosage?
Maybe.
If you cut a pill in half that has a Time-Release technology; taking the tablet could cause severe damage to your body as the dosage is exponentially higher due to the small pill being opened prematurely.
Please consult your doctor and/or physician before using a pill splitter on a medication that has Time-Release technology.
If you need to know how to cut a pill into 1/4: lowering dosage is simple. Place the little tablet in a multiple pill splitter, or a pill splitter that has a sharp blade and a mechanism that centers the small tablet. Next, close the pill cutter gently but firmly. Repeat on the half tablet by turning the little pill lengthways which gives more room for the blade to cut it into 1/4.
Splitting pills that are not scored can be accomplished by purchasing an automatic pill cutter (which we’ve reviewed). Proceed to use the automatic mechanism to cut the pill, with its automatic centering, it can cut relatively cleanly, even on small pills that are not scored.
Is it Bad to Cut Pills in Half?
Not inherently,
But you MUST be careful of the “Time-Release” technology that is in many common prescription medications. You need to know if the tablet is timed or extended-release or not. If it IS a “Time-Release” pill, it is not safe to cut the pill in half for ingestion.
We recommend you consult your physician before using a pill cutter on your extended-release tablets.
Non-Time-Release medication is perfectly ok to split and ingest according to medical professionals. If you want to learn how to cut small pills in half, we’ve written a complete guide for the best way to cut small pills.
Learning how to cut a small pill in half is simple, and we’ve written an answer to your question in the linked article. However, you should put the small pill inside the grooved edges of the pill splitter and press down firmly until the lid closes all the way to the bottom lid.
How Does a Pill Cutter Work?
It works by using a blade to split a pill or tablet in half. After putting a small tablet inside the grooved edges of the pill splitter, press down completely on the lid until the pill cutter is 100% closed. Remove the two halves of the pill and repeat. If you are interested about what does a pill cutter look like: we have an article specifically for you. An article about the best pill cutter for small pills will have many examples of a pill cutter.
Conclusion: Splitting Small Pills: Tests and Research by findithealth.com
Small pills can be split, and we devoted two articles surrounding the topic to this question. With the right pill cutter, little pills and large pills can be split evenly and cleanly. To finish; we do our due diligence in creating a research-based article that is easy to consume and share. The in-depth research we do is on health topics that interest our community so that you can find solutions to commonly asked questions.
If you like our data-based writing style, you will like this publication about the best silicone cupping set.
References
Hong Kong Medical Journal. (2021). Effects of pill splitting training on drug physiochemical properties, compliance, and clinical outcomes in the elderly population: a randomized trial.
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