I'm gonna give my definitely NON-MEDICAL knowledge of over the counter pain meds here.....certainly welcome anyone with more knowledge than I!
There are 4 types of pain medication you can get over the counter - aspirin (we all know what that is, I think), ibuprophen (I believe Tylenol is in that category), acedemenephin (this is Advil), and naproxen (this is Aleve). The brands I've mentioned are what I'm familiar with in America. If you don't have them in your country, snoop the aisles of pain killers in the drug store and read labels. It should say what is what. I'm going to go out on Google and see if I can find a better list that I could post.....BRB!
Not to be nit-picky, but. . .
All the above meds are NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs).
Asprin is a common med that suffers from GI upset and irreversibly binds platelets and inhibits them significantly, therefore, increasing bleeding risk.
Ibuprofen (aka advil, motrin, etc) is a nice NSAID that can also cause GI upset, minor bleeding risk (according to many surgeons). There is a theoretical risk I have recently learned about of "bone-softening" though my surgeon doesn't seem to mind.
Aleeve (aka Naproxen, naprosyn, etc) is very similar to ibuprofen with similar risk and side-effect profile. It can be dosed less frequently.
Celebrex (along with Vioxx - now gone) is very similar to the above except it works more intensely on inflammation and less elsewhere which serves to minimize GI effects and bleeding risk.
Tylenol (acetominophen) is an NSAID, though quite different from the above as it is felt to act more centrally (i.e. in the brain) to reduce pain and less so in the rest of the body, thereby minimizing all side-effects.
As a rule, tylenol can be hard on your liver when taken too frequently and the others can be hard on your kidneys (yes, even the might - mighty expensive - Celebrex).
Many prescription pain killers (Lortab, Vicodin, Percocet, Darvocet) are a combo of tylenol and narcotics (i.e. derivatives of morphine), so caution to the liver and don't add too much over-the-counter tylenol to these!
Hope that helps.
***Disclaimer: Lawyers of the world, the information given above is free of charge, implies no doctor patient relationship and should not, in any case, be a substitute for your doctor's opinion when considering taking medications****
Ain't America great?
United Kingdom
I hope yours becomes more comfortable soon.
