Pain Relief - Medicines

There are four medicines commonly used to treat pain, paracetamol, aspirin, ibuprofen and codeine. Most pain relief medicines will consist of these, either singly or in combination. By looking at the ingredients you can compare pain relief products to see which would be best for you.

Paracetamol

• Paracetamol is normally the first choice for high temperature and fever, and is the most popular. There are several popular brands available, as round tablets, capsule-shaped tablets, capsules, soluble tablets, and liquids for children. They all work the same way, but many people have their own particular favourite.
• Paracetamol is kind to the stomach, and does not cause indigestion or stomach irritation. It can be taken on an empty stomach, and so you do not need to time the doses with meals or food.
• Paracetamol interacts with very few other medicines.
• Paracetamol is dangerous if you overdose. Read the label, and use only the recommended dose.

Aspirin

• Aspirin has been used for far longer than paracetamol, and is just as good for high temperature and fever. There are popular brands available in tablet and soluble forms.
• Aspirin should not be given to children. It has been linked with causing a rare childhood disorder, and should not be given to children under 16 years old.
• Aspirin can irritate the stomach, and so should always be taken after food, or a meal. If you are not eating, then try to take it with something, even a milky drink is better than nothing.
• Aspirin can cause problems with some medical conditions, and can be a problem taking it with some medicines on prescription. Read the drug interactions in the product details or check with your doctor or pharmacist.

Ibuprofen

• Ibuprofen is the latest medicine for high temperature and fever to be available, and is just as good as paracetamol ands aspirin. It is more like aspirin than paracetamol.
• Ibuprofen can irritate the stomach, and should always be taken after food, or a meal. If you are not eating, then try to take it with something, even a milky drink is better than nothing.
• Ibuprofen can be given to children over one year old according to the directions.
• Ibuprofen can cause problems with some medical conditions, and can be a problem taking it with some medicines on prescription. Read the drug interactions in the product details or check with your doctor or pharmacist.

Codeine

• Codeine by itself is a Prescription Only Medicines, and the codeine that you can buy over the counter is always combined with either paracetamol, aspirin or codeine to slightly boost the effect of these pain killers.
• Codeine can add a little boost to the pain relieving properties of a pain killing tablet, but it does add significantly to the side effects, which can include drowsiness, constipation, and in extreme cases addiction.
• Codeine multiplies the drowsiness caused by other drugs or by alcohol. If you are affected in any way by drowsiness be sensible, and do not drive, operate machinery or undertake dangerous sports or hobbies.

• Use pain relief medicines in the right way to get the best results. Use the right medicine, at the right dose, and repeat the dose in the right way. Read the instructions before you take any medicine, even if you think you know how to take it. It is so easy to forget such important things as the correct dose to take, and how often to repeat it.
• Children’s medicines should be used especially carefully. Check the instructions for the right dose to give for that age. Remember that as children get older they will need to take a higher dose of medicine for it to work properly.
• Don’t take too much. All these medicines are perfectly safe to use according to the directions on the pack. Taking more than the maximum recommended dose can cause real problems, and can lead to poisoning, especially with paracetamol.
• Take enough. It is also important to take enough of your medicine, or it will not work. Many people are afraid of taking too much medicine, and take less than the recommended dose. The chances are that it will not work. A better way of thinking about any medicine, is that you should take it correctly when you need to, and stop as soon as you are better. Starting to take medicines when you first need is usually far more effective than leaving it for too long.
• Choose the right strength pain killer. It is best to choose a standard pain killer and take it properly before thinking about using a stronger product. In my experience as a pharmacist most people who ask me for a stronger pain killer have not used the full dose of what they are using. This is the first thing to do before thinking about using anything stronger.
• Plan it out. Anyone with a temperature or fever should be taking their medicine well spaced out over the whole 24 hours. If necessary write-out a time plan.
• If you sleep through the night, then space your medicine evenly over the hours you are awake. Four times a day would then be when you wake up, two more evenly spaced doses during the day, and when you go to bed, e.g. 8am, 1pm, 6pm, 11pm.
• If you are waking regularly at night, and sleeping regularly during the day; then space the medicine evenly over the 24 hours. Four times a day would then become every six hours, e.g. 10pm, 4am, 10am, 4pm.
• Use different types of pain relief together. A safe way to get extra pain relief is to use different methods of pain relief together. Pain relief tablets can be combined with cooling pain relief , warming pain relief , TENS pain relief and magnetic therapy . However combining ibuprofen tablets with ibuprofen cream or gels at the same time is pointless, as the extra relief from the cream is very small compared to that gained by the tablet.
• Be very careful about taking two medicines together. These can be medicines you are using yourself, or medicines your doctor has prescribed for you. It is always best to check with your pharmacist or doctor first. One danger is that you can double-up on the same ingredient, and that can give you an overdose, even though you are taking each separate medicine according to the directions. Paracetamol is in so many products, that there is a real danger of overdosing on paracetamol in this way.