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Building Up a Tolerance to Pain Medication

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Welcome to blistering headache, day two. My whopper of a headache hung around for most of the day, and came back for a second visit this morning. Nothing says “great start to a day” like a headache. I did get some relief last night when I switched from ibuprofen to aspirin, and I think it was the change in medications that made the difference. I do tend to switch pain relievers every so often. Maybe the ibuprofen wasn’t helping because my body was too used to it? With some pain relievers, your body can build up a tolerance — meaning … Continue reading →

Dealing with Growing Pains

It’s not just a television sitcom from the 1980s! (I won’t mention my crush on Kirk Cameron, either!) Growing pains are actually a quite common phenomenon in children. I don’t remember suffering from them when I was a child — did you? Growing pains occur most often in the legs. They are often felt after strenuous play or exercise (maybe that’s why I didn’t have them — I wasn’t much of an athlete as a kid). A child may experience growing pains during two periods of development: between the ages of three and five and between the ages of eight … Continue reading →

Painkiller Basics

Not all over the counter pain medicines work exactly the same way. Here are some tips to make sure you take the right medicine for your body aches, headaches, and other pains. For sore muscles, sunburn, and arthritis pain, your best bet is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (also known as an NSAID). Ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin are all NSAIDs. These types of painkiller block the body’s production of chemicals that cause swelling — and swelling is really the culprit for your sore muscles, sunburn, and arthritis pain. Fighting a headache? Look for pain pills that contain caffeine. Many people find … Continue reading →

Pain Medicine: Acetaminophen

As an alternative to aspirin, acetaminophen has been around a long time! The FDA approved acetaminophen in 1951. This medicine is both analgesic (pain reliever) and antipyretic (fever reducer). You may know acetaminophen as: Tylenol and others — more than 200 medications include acetaminophen. How does it work? Acetaminophen relieves pain by elevating the pain threshold — in other words, it takes more pain for you to feel the discomfort. Acetaminophen reduces fever by telling the heat regulating part of the brain to cool things down when the body’s temperature is above normal. Acetaminophen is available in many different forms, … Continue reading →

New Labels For Familiar Painkillers

By the end of 2007, you can expect to see new labels and stricter safety warnings on your over the counter pain relievers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed the new warnings in December, which would affect hundreds of prescription and nonprescription products. What will the warnings address? Acetaminophen (the pain reliever in Tylenol) will come with a warning about the potential for “severe liver damage” if they take more than the maximum daily dose, combine the pills with other drugs, or drink alcohol while taking the drug. NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Advil’s ibuprofen, aspirin, and Aleve’s naproxen) … Continue reading →

Pet First Aid: Safe Household Treatments

At various vet trips we’ve received advice to treat our pets with doses of Benadryl, Zyrtec, and Neosporin. That’s right: medicines we think are for people can also be for pets. There are actually a number of household items or medications we can employ if our animals are having problems. The trick is knowing exactly what medicines, and how much of them, are safe for our pets. For example: most dogs should only have one Benadryl a day. If giving the pet Zyrtec, it should only receive the normal kind – make sure it doesn’t have any decongestants or other … Continue reading →

TMJ Dos and Don’ts

TMJ — temporomandibular joint syndrome — can be a real pain. But these dos and don’ts can help ease your discomfort. DO: Try to increase blood flow to your jaw. Apply ice OR moist heat (like a warm, wet washcloth) — but don’t alternate. Pick one and stick with it. Heat works best for some; ice works best for others. Try gentle stretching and facial massage. This is another way to increase blood flow to the jaw. Support your jaw with a moldable mouth guard. Holding your jaw steady can help relieve symptoms of TMJ temporarily. Limit jaw movement. When … Continue reading →

Using Infant or Children’s Tylenol May Increase the Risk for Asthma

When little ones have a fever or pain, the drug of choice is usually Tylenol, or acetaminophen. It does the job quickly and without the risk of Reyes Syndrome, a serious and sometimes fatal disease that can develop when a child is given aspirin for fever. While there has been a lot of new lately concerning the safety of children’s cold medication (which should not be used for babies under two), it seems that we may have to also be concerned with the use of acetaminophen, too. The medical journal Lancet published a study that found that infants who were … Continue reading →

The Headache that Just Won’t Quit

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I’m no stranger to headaches. When I was in high school and college, I had one sinus infection after another — and a sinus headache just about all the time. Once I had sinus surgery to cut away the infected tissue (and fix a deviated septum), the first morning I woke up without a headache was like a miracle. My problems with sinus infections have been few and far between since then. Alas, sinus headaches aren’t the only type of headaches I get. Every once in a while, I wake up with a real whopper. When I was still in … Continue reading →

First Aid: Dealing With a Fever

A fever means your body is trying to fight an infection. If you have a fever, you may feel: Warm or hot — but often without sweat. Chills. The temperature inside your body can be very different from the temperature in the room! Achy. When I have a fever, my joints ache. For other people, the ache may be all over or only in certain places. Headachy. A fever almost always comes with a headache for me! Fuzzy-headed or easily distracted. Treating a fever doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are some things you can do at home to treat … Continue reading →