For many years, folks suffering from migraines had to deal with the pain, nausea and interruption to their daily lives because no effective treatment was available. Over the counter medications just did not do anything for them. In the United States alone, more than 28 million suffer from migraines — which translates to a high amount of time lost for work, social activities and daily routines. After some time spent on research and testing, a class of drugs known as triptans were approved that offered effective migraine headache relief.
Many people turn to ibuprofen when they need headache pain relief. Ibuprofen is classified as a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID). Just as its classification suggests,it works to reduce inflammation. It is the inflammation that our bodies read as pain so reducing it makes sense. Both aspirin and ibuprofen are able to do this and they work on many ailments including arthritis, abdominal pain and even menstrual cramps. However, there are some side effects of Ibuprofen that you should be aware of.
Brand name headache medications cost more but do they really work better than those generic brands placed next to them on the shelf that cost so much less? There isn’t a straight yes or no answer that fits this question because there are too many variables that fit into this equation. Each person will have to come up with the answer to this on his own based on his circumstances.
Aspirin and acetaminophen are very similar in nature. The other name that acetaminophen is known by is paracetamol. Acetaminophen is a very powerful pain reliever. Since the 19th century, both aspirin and acetaminophen have been used to relieve pain associated with headaches. Although aspirin and acetaminophen contain many of the same compounds, there are some significant differences between them. This results to them being used by people based on their individual needs.
For the past 2,500 years, aspirin has been a stable in cultures all over the world for treating headaches. Hippocrates, the famed Greek doctor in 5th century B.C., extracted aspirin from the bark of a willow tree as a way to reduce fevers. The aspirin extracted from the willow tree bark has salacin, a chemical that the body converts into salicylic acid. Towards the end of the 19th century, Bayer, a German pharmaceutical company, introduced acetylsalicylic acid (or simply aspirin) that was made by Felix Hoffman, a chemist. Aspirin is a very widely used product, with more than 80 billion tables of it sold annually. It s one of the most popular over-the-counter medications for headaches used today.
