In my line of work, dental hygiene, I’ve talked with several patients taking pain medication, some for short periods of time, and some for very long periods of time. Although our Doctors aren’t the ones who prescribed them the medication necessarily, they often have many questions on how they work. So here are a few of the most common questions I hear from my patients, sometimes in relation to dentistry and sometimes not!
What is a good pain medication to take?
This question is a bit tricky because different pain medications work in different manners. Depending on the type of pain you are having, is how you choose your reliever. So let’s get into some quick basics about two of the most common types of over the counter medications, and how they work.
· Acetaminophen
· Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drug (NSAIDs)
Examples of Acetaminophen are Tylenol and Excedrin PM. The way that these are believed to work is that they act on the nerve endings to block pain stimuli. The NSAID group includes aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve). These medications work at the site of the injury to block pain receptors and their ability to transmit pain messages to the brain. They also have antipyretic (fever reducing), and anti inflammatory actions.
So back to the question of which one should you take? The rule of thumb that I use is, if you believe to have an injury of some sort, or are sick with aches and pains, fever, tooth aches, or dealing with menstrual cramps go for the NSAID. Often people take these medications for inflammatory diseases and illnesses like arthritis, joint inflammation, and gout just as a few examples.
Other things, like a headache with no underlying cause like muscle tension, go for the Acetaminophen. This is just a general rule I use. Although, I strongly caution you against using any of these products very regularly or for longer periods of time. This leads me to the next question.
Are There Any Side Effects Of These Medications?
Yes, as with all medications there are side effects. The problems with these medications usually arise when you take them for longer periods of time. This is unless you have an immediate allergic reaction to it of course. Acetaminophen products are primarily processed by the liver. Anyone who already has a compromised liver due to disease, have a low protein diet, have been dieting or not eating due to illness, or who consumes 3 or more alcoholic beverages a day should take extreme caution when using these types of products. The reason for this is because there is a potentially toxic byproduct that is produced by the liver when it processes acetaminophen. This byproduct is known to cause liver damage. It is really quite a complex process, but in short, if your body doesn’t have enough nutrition it will not have the proper tools to help reverse the byproduct back to a form that won’t cause the liver damage.
NSAIDs can have many different side effects. They tend to promote bleeding and have a higher risk of creating ulcers in the stomach. They can also have side effects of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. More serious side effects can be kidney and liver damage. These are just some of the reasons why I caution against using these types of medications for prolonged periods of time.
How Long Should I Take These Types Of Medications?
It is recommended to only take these types of medications sparingly and for acute (short lasting) types of pain. The longer you take these medications, the higher risk of having undesirable side effects. Ideally, you should try to limit these types of medications to 10 days or less.
Can I Take More Than The Recommended Dose To Get More Pain Relief?
This is a common misconception. With these types of medications, a higher dose doesn’t necessarily give you more pain relief, or reduce inflammation more. It just increases your chances of having side effects. This is because these types of medications have what is called the “ceiling” effect. This means that once they have reached their maximum ability to reduce your pain or inflammation for example, the more you take will NOT give you more relief.
\hrc-assets
helloprint
highmarkcaringplace
blitz-cinestar
dfgpocpiao666
actforamerica
farmindustrynews
akzente
birth23
epubor
absolutereports
justcollecting
meermanno
aimyplus
budget
pcmax
pinnaclebank
lifearc
johnnyswim
laubergedelmar
ketto
gaihekitosou-hotline
merseyforest
justnaija
clear-code
rugbyworld
cloudferro
amonghealth
visualhierarchy
trippqabd
asthma
androidhackcheat
anibogo
avatrade
adfht
cross-guitar
drvc
magalla-soratemplates
misfitgeek
hetanker
daman88
wander-reit-station-herdweidhof
kimberlygeswein
thehundred-seven
sokolovelaw
nextdaypc
kzd-nondiscrimination
aig
friskfri
audiostreamvolt
charmcitycakes
ogano
eoshd
solidatech
uknof
edu-blog-106
riseup
pa
christophtrappe
wash-united
convertaudio
farhikhtegandaily
mersinportal
affiliate44
luminati-china
cyji
acmcert
energylabel
redbackconferencing
aldesign
botdb
onefootdown
diario-extra
socialflea
nuovoteam
treasurehunt-design
lokmattimes
cleapss
apturicovid
inak918
psl
rankpieindia
alpinewebmedia
lpgasmagazine
raspbmc
poweredbyvision
qubitica
site-web-creation
nissoken
pazx888
kkfi
canadianpharmhealth
pitztaler-gletscher
toonoops
lindsaydoeslanguages
jun6636
yvonne-arnaud
simplesystems
son-direct
jelvix
mgtnetonline
grgbanking
gratorama
c9
mag-day
t1t
washingtonpublishers
chirodominance
531666
degreeadvanced
ismabrasil
zpravyinfo
technickytydenik
schalloehr-verlag
austinstone
vdw-rw
pole
ufaonline24
sunovionpolicies
epa
gcc
baovedatviet
1stshoppingonline
acireale
onplanners
motion4ever
nerdbank
218
murrietaca
wiss
schnyder-werbung
kulturfonds-frm
drk-westfalen
webcompany
megafundament
51
vesty
flaticons
0769g3
sellesmp
goodcarequality
saltgrass
parkeringgoteborg
enrise
integrace
vrm-digital
moneta
mcpiqojournal
china-silkroad
nowamagic
cloudnative
transgendervictoria
mdsoar
tntla
tasteaholics
essaywriters
sakhalinmedia
lili
williammalone
techcults
123website
solidtech
lexues
dgyipin
wsusoffline
dashubaba
makingitlovely
sistemi
advuitinh
leviathyn
nic
normograma
peachyessay
kptechnosys
flavio-soratemplates
yomeuno
pannacooking
xvideos2in
visionmatters
lnfy
longislandweekly
hinokuni-net
levneweby-pn
school-xyz
capecodcommission
turna
xingzuowu
citizenactionny
readyop
2pg
petstutorial
boc
moonbeamawards
shouthost
suckhoegiadinh
statecharts
wlc
anothervista
i-cio
35mb
yunweipai
teilestore
nordnorskdebatt
veronica-soratemplates
mbci
cd-adapco
vitvesti
ohtn
fgvsp
alphanauten
onshift
ipasvi
capral
dnscurve
ikon
insecula
victoriabritish
edu-blog-104
webcams
atraxion
prvninoviny
headphonezone
unilever
pre22
edu-blog-1
kanthal
wholehealthmd
northants-chamber
librarius
phimvietnam
foodphotographyacademy
marugotokochi
mountainoffire
danubecommission
fqcable
fbaa
nihontsushin
typelogic
openvpn
tansuola
bic
maccosmetics
ieo-imf
tasarim59
undercoverism
practicalwanderlust
hoaxmap
jxjyit
oheka
zilladesigns
nextmillennium
cfileonline
coldfusionjedi
fusiononemarketing
drivingmobility
le-loir-et-cher
cascadia
trekker
pohang
museoevolucionhumana
cumbriacrack
novakidschool
nobiskrug
sdgaccord
qualish
jiminypeak
vectorpixel
onecommune
laquintaca
retailbrew
crv4all
kmgit
nielsenisbnstore
morethansound
ixaris
tourismtopend
mybookcave
jisufanli
renebabin
