Comment on Seek relief
enki@lemm.ee 7 months agoThere’s a VERY big difference between “pain relievers”, NSAIDs, and “pain killers” which are opioids. NSAIDs are effective and safe if used properly.
Comment on Seek relief
enki@lemm.ee 7 months agoThere’s a VERY big difference between “pain relievers”, NSAIDs, and “pain killers” which are opioids. NSAIDs are effective and safe if used properly.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 7 months ago
Not all pain killers fit into those two categories.
The normal headache pill, paracetamol (most notably sold as “Panadol”), is neither NSAID nor opioid.
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 7 months ago
That’s Tylenol (acetaminophen) for the US folks.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 7 months ago
Oh yeah, that’s right. That’s a weird one. Not sure why they have two such different names.
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 7 months ago
It’s para-~a~cet~yl-~am~ino-phen~ol vs ~para-~acet~yl-~amino-phen~ol.~
enki@lemm.ee 7 months ago
Your distinction is correct, but I simply listed NSAIDs as an example, not an exhaustive list of pain relievers. You also make assumptions on “the normal headache pill” based on your locale. In the US paracetamol/acetaminophen/Tylenol is very common, but so is ibuprofen/Advil, naproxen sodium/Aleve, and aspirin/Bayer. In fact, I’d argue ibuprofen is far more popular here based on how much larger the ibuprofen section is compared to acetaminophen in pharmacies. Granted acetaminophen is a bit more common in compound OTC meds like cold and flu medicines.
That being said, paracetamol functions extremely similarly to NSAIDs, but it’s not anti-inflammatory, and works on the nervous system only, whereas NSAIDs affect the brain and body as well.