Mag sulphate paste: prescription only?

[MorrisZapp]

Google seems to think magnesium sulphate paste is only available on prescription? Has anyone bought it otc?

Just checked my pot - I got it from Boots.

But looking for it on their website, it says it is out of stock and Boots won't be getting further stock.

Damn.

Same on amazon. This item not available.

https://www.bydirect.co.uk/product/magnesium-sulphate-paste-bp-50g/

Its a massive tub, and says its for horses hooves, but I think this is the same. I have used it for human's splinters, as well as hoof abscesses on the pony. It would be a lifetimes supply though.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B084VBPXMZ?psc=1&smid=A2QD816PF5Z29L&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

I bought mine over the counter in a Lloyds pharmacy last year - it's not a prescription product.

However, it is currently out of stock in most places.

I think that's maybe down to a major shortage in the magnesium supply.

I don't know how magnesium sulphate paste itself is made, but I do know that almost all the magnesium extracted/produced comes from China, but a lot of producers have been shut down in the last few years because it's a massively energy-intensive, coal-fired production process. As there's a shortage of magnesium, my guess is that a lot of pharmaceutical companies have stopped making magnesium sulphate paste. It's a non-essential product, cheap, unbranded and not especially widely used, so I would guess that if magnesium is currently in short supply, it's being channelled into more essential or lucrative products. It's used in loads of things, not just medicines and supplements.

I might be totally wrong, but it feels like a reasonably likely explanation for the current magnesium sulphate paste drought.

I think that's maybe down to a major shortage in the magnesium supply.

Elemental (metallic) magnesium is very energy-intensive to produce, but nobody would make magnesium sulphate commercially from metal in way you did in the school chemistry lab (ie, dissolving a strip of magnesium in dilute sulphuric acid, while trying to keep the class clown from setting fire to their Mg strip with the Bunsen burner).

Millions of tons of MgSO4 for fertilizer are made cheaply from ore or even sea water, as magnesium is extremely abundant.

So I think that if there is a shortage, it's more likely to be an issue with manufacturing or distribution of the pharmaceutical-grade stuff.

Epson salts is magnesium sulphate. Available in large bags for not much money. Add hot water to make paste.

KreedKafer has an enviable knowledge of magnesium sulphate paste production.