If you are like most in this society, when pain rears its ugly head, you immediately turn to some form of pain reliever. The kind of pain reliever that we take can depend on a variety of factors. These include the types of and causes of the pain, whether it is from acute injury or chronic disease processes, inflammation, swelling, fever, etc. If the pain is infrequent, you resort to over-the-counter pain reliever.
This rampant disregard for possible harmful effects makes each of us guilty of misusing and overusing pain killers. So let us explore some of the improper ways of taking pain killers that we usually consider harmless.
First, many of us take over-the-counter pain medication like candy because they are easily purchased at a pharmacy, grocery, or convenience store without a prescription. We take one pill and then another until we start feeling a little better, without paying attention to the proper dosage. Sometimes, we think that one pill is not enough and by taking two or three at a time, the effect will be stronger and the pain will go away faster. When you are taking more than the maximum dosage recommended, we are now dealing with pain killer addiction.
Second, frequent usage of certain medication over time will cause bad side effects such as edema, blurred vision, nausea, heartburn, diarrhea, gastric ulcer with bleeding and/or perforation, dizziness, nervousness, rash and tinnitus. It is found that Ibuprofen use can increase the risk of stroke and Acetaminophen such as Tylenol can cause serious liver and kidney damage.
Lastly, a common oversight is to take pain remedies with other medication without first consulting a doctor. This is dangerous because different types of drugs react differently and combining them will sometimes cause harm to the body. That is why in every case, a pain management doctor should always be informed of the different kinds of medication you are currently taking so that the right pain killers and the correct dosage can be prescribed.