Can You Cut Tylenol Sinus + Headache In Half?

In our latest question and answer, the pharmacist discusses whether Tylenol Sinus + Headache caplets can be cut in half.

Can You Cut Tylenol Sinus + Headache In Half?
May 24, 2018

Mary asked

I wanted to know if I could break a Tylenol sinus headache pill in half would that be safe?

Answer

Pill Splitter YellowPer the packaging of Tylenol Sinus + Headache caplets, they should be swallowed whole, and not be crushed, chewed or dissolved. However, they may safely be cut or split in half as long as you use a good quality pill cutter, to prevent uneven splitting or the contents of the caplets from crumbling.

A 'caplet' is simply a capsule-shaped table, which are often coated with some form of wax or other substance to improve the ease of swallowing the medication. Looking at the ingredients of Tylenol Sinus + Headache, we see that it does indeed have carnauba wax as an inactive ingredient.

Caplets can sometimes be difficult to cut due to the wax coating and their capsule like shape. Nevertheless, they can safely be cut but it would be prudent to use a pill cutter designed for the purpose. Lastly, it is often recommended to not crush caplet dosage forms (such as Tylenol + Headache caplets) as the coating and other inactive ingredients can be irritating if taken in a powdered/crushed form.

So, Tylenol Sinus + Headache can be split or cut in half, but should not be crushed or chewed.

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