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El Reg reports:
Reported in The Lancet, the study [on paracetamol also known as acetaminophen] funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline Australia ran for over three years and involved "a multicentre, double-dummy, randomised, placebo controlled trial across 235 primary care centres in Sydney."
The study saw some patients given regular doses paracetamol, others told to take the drug when in pain and a third group handed placebos. Those given paracetamol, in either mode, reported no less pain than those taking placebos. Nor did sugar-pill-poppers recover from their ailments more slowly.
The authors therefore "question the universal endorsement of paracetamol in this patient group."
In this interview the study's leader Professor Chris Maher even questions whether Paracetamol can be considered a pain-killer.
"The jury is out" on whether the drug lessens pain, Professor Maher says about two minutes into the interview.
So, what does work? Don't just lay there; for starters, get up and MOVE AROUND.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 25 2014, @03:12PM
btw, paracetamol is acetaminophen, aka Tylenol.
Ibuprofen works pretty well for me. When it was available, Vioxx worked great, but apparently it was giving at-risk people heart trouble/attacks. The above commenter is correct, Ibp is also an anti-inflammatory, so it hits back pain from that angle as well.
Even a little acetaminophen overdose can kill you [thisamericanlife.org], so be very careful, and don't take even a little over the max dosage. Also I would check with a doctor before taking both Ibp and acetaminophen in the same day, as one commenter above is doing.
When my back pain was so severe that I tried a chiropractor, it actually did help. But maybe that was just the electrotherapy. ymmv
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday July 25 2014, @04:00PM
What's disconcerting about acetaminophen is that the dangers have been know for such a long time but it is only now that they are really being publicized. I remember back in my freshman year of college (1987), learning in either organic chemistry or bio, that the lethal dose of acetaminophen is very close to the effective dose.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 25 2014, @05:51PM
Why do hospitals and doctors seem to push it so much then? I would never buy tylenol.