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ER study finds ibuprofen leading pain reliever
Filed under: Babies, Toddlers Preschoolers, Preschoolers, Teens, Your Pregnancy, Health & Safety: Babies, Development/Milestones: Babies, In The News, Alcohol & Drugs
When it comes to reducing fevers and easing pain, parents have two choices: Ibuprofen, sold under the brand names Motrin or Advil, and acetaminophen, or Tylenol. If you've used either, then you know that both are effective fever reducers and both tackle childhood pains (such as teething) pretty well.
A study of 300 children in a Canadian ER recently put ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and codeine to the test to see which was most effective at relieving the pain of broken bones, sprains, and strains. Ibuprofen was the clear winner. An hour after taking the pain reliever, children who took ibuprofen reported their pain to be 24 points lower (on a 100-point scale), while kids in the acetaminophen and codeine groups only reported 12 and 11 point relief, respectively.
Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory, which may explain why it works better in these types of injuries. Ibuprofen also works longer -- six to eight hours, as opposed to four to six hours in Tylenol. This study looked only at ibuprofen use in injuries, however. To decide what pain reliever is best for your child, talk to your doctor.
A study of 300 children in a Canadian ER recently put ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and codeine to the test to see which was most effective at relieving the pain of broken bones, sprains, and strains. Ibuprofen was the clear winner. An hour after taking the pain reliever, children who took ibuprofen reported their pain to be 24 points lower (on a 100-point scale), while kids in the acetaminophen and codeine groups only reported 12 and 11 point relief, respectively.
Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory, which may explain why it works better in these types of injuries. Ibuprofen also works longer -- six to eight hours, as opposed to four to six hours in Tylenol. This study looked only at ibuprofen use in injuries, however. To decide what pain reliever is best for your child, talk to your doctor.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-09-2008 @ 12:44AM
David Robinson said...The problem with ibuprofen and other drugs in its class (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory or NSAIDs) is that it rarely can cause ulcers in the stomach with possible bleeding into the gut. This does not occur with Tylenol.
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3-09-2008 @ 2:35PM
Marcia said...Ibuprofen is the only pain killer that works well for me as well. Acetaminophen hardly takes the edge off of a migraine where as ibuprofen knocks it out. The only bad part is Ibuprofen also can increase potassium in the blood stream so it is NOT recommended to use it while on birth control, or at least use it very very seldomly. My birth control causes me to get migraines and I've switched 4 times in the last year and all of them do the same thing, yet my doctor told me not to take Advil while I'm on them.
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