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Painkillers are available almost everywhere – in grocery stores, gas stations, newsagents. According to the latest research, Poles are European record holders and swallow 2 billion painkillers a year. And do they know everything about them, or at least enough not to harm their health?
Painkiller, or what?
Each painkiller has an active substance that is responsible for its effectiveness. In most cases, it is paracetamol, ibuprofen or acetylsalicylic acid.
Paracetmol does not hit the source of pain, but cuts off the path of pain impulses and is indicated for fever, headache and menstrual pain. It is less irritating to the stomach. Therefore, it can be used by people with peptic ulcer disease, hyperacidity, heartburn, but also with hypertension, asthma or diabetes. However, it does not serve patients who abuse alcohol and suffer from liver disease.
Ibuprofen will work quickly, the effect will last longer, and in addition to pain and fever, it will also fight inflammation. It is seen as extremely safe and recommended by pediatricians as the first drug to treat fever in children. Adults will be useful for headaches, muscles, spine, sinuses, rheumatic disease, injuries. People suffering from asthma, kidney and heart diseases should not take it.
With inflammation, acetylsalicylic acid tablets will also be ideal, but not for asthmatics, patients with stomach ulcers, women during menstruation or breastfeeding. Indications for the use of drugs based on acetylsalicylic acid are headaches, flu, rheumatic, muscular and post-traumatic pains.
The mechanism of their action, however, is similar – in addition to the central effect on the brain, painkillers help in the area of nerve endings, i.e. in places affected by inflammation.
You can’t fool your body
A painkiller is not a cure-all. In the long run, it will not solve your health problems, but will only fool the body that everything is fine. This is due to blocking the formation of cyclooxygenase – the enzyme that makes us feel pain.
Pain does not arise for no reason, and its symptoms can be a sign of a serious condition that should be consulted with a doctor and examined.
Read leaflets
Before using any medicine, read the leaflet that comes with it. Pay attention to:
- Conditions it treats – you will determine whether the medicine is right for you
- Composition
- Side effects
- Dosage, that is:
- How often to use the medicine
- What time of day
- Before, after or during a meal
- How to make it easier for yourself to take the medicine, e.g. by drinking plenty of water
Medications are not for everyone
When deciding to buy a painkiller on your own, do not follow the advice of others, and even less pay attention to which product is currently advertised.
Medicines must be adapted to the ailments they are supposed to relieve, but also to the age and other diseases we suffer from or the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Different pharmaceuticals will be suitable for a child, different for a pregnant woman, still different for an elderly person or a person with heart disease.
For example, the main component of painkillers, paracetamol, is contraindicated in patients with liver disorders, and at the same time it is the only relatively acceptable agent for the treatment of pain in women in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Aspirin, which is often used by adults, in children under 12 years of age can cause dangerous Reye’s syndrome and lead to brain and liver damage. The only painkillers that are safe to give to children are paracetamol and ibuprofen.
Restrictions on the use of medicines also apply to people suffering from gastric and duodenal ulcers or chronically ill. If you want to take a painkiller in combination with other medicines taken regularly, you should pay special attention to whether they interact negatively. This risk occurs in the case of antidiabetic, anticonvulsant and high blood pressure drugs.
I’ll swallow more, it’ll go faster
Never exceed the daily dose of the drug indicated by the manufacturer. Also, take care of the proper intervals between successive doses. Swallowing more pills will not increase their effectiveness or speed up the effect – we will not get rid of the pain faster in this way, but we may suffer from side effects.
Also, drugs should not be combined with the same medicinal substance. To find out what substance a medicine contains, check its international name, which is written on the package next to the brand name of the medicine.
It helped yesterday, it will help today too
A year ago you had a similar ailment as today, so you take pills that were effective then? Drugs should not be taken out of habit! In every situation of illness and pain, it is worth visiting the doctor again to work out a treatment regimen adequate to the current problems. Also, remember to follow the instructions!
Remember the expiration date
Don’t take any painkillers just because you have them on hand in your home medicine cabinet. Match the drug to your body and expected results. Be sure to pay attention to the expiration date – you will find it on the box and blister with tablets, in the form of an embossed string of numbers, which determines the expiry date and the batch number.
Easily available does not mean harmless
According to CBOS data, almost 9 out of 10 adult Poles declare that they have taken over-the-counter drugs in the last 12 months. Most often, we reach for painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs that will relieve headaches, toothaches, stomachaches or quickly put us back on our feet at the first symptoms of colds and flu.
The record in the use of painkillers is due, among others, to from their availability – “pain powders” can be obtained in almost every shop around the corner. In 2015, spending on medicines increased to PLN 1,3 billion, which means that Poles bought 115 million packages of medicines.
The ubiquity of drugs and the lack of a prescription to buy them does not mean that we can take painkillers just like that. As with everything, common sense is important.
It is best if the medicine is adjusted by a doctor or at least a pharmacist – based on the symptoms described by the patient. At the drugstore or gas station, we cannot count on advice on which of the available funds will help, what is its composition, operation and side effects.
At one time, abdominal pain, heartburn and nausea, and even vomiting may occur. It may also turn out that we are allergic to one of the ingredients of the drug and unexpectedly we get urticaria, erythema or a rash.
With prolonged use of painkillers on your own, stomach ulcers, kidney or liver failure or bleeding from the digestive system may occur. It also increases the risk of stroke and heart attack.
To avoid unpleasant ailments and help your health, not harm – it’s best to go to a doctor’s appointment and ask a specialist for a professional diagnosis. This rule absolutely applies to people in whom pain persists for more than three days or when the allowable daily dose of the drug turns out to be insufficient.
More information on the Angelini website