Both at home and abroad, the commonly used over-the-counter painkillers are mainly non steroidal painkillers, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, diclofenac, etc. I believe you are familiar with the names of these drugs. There will be one or two in the small medicine box at home. However, many people think that these drugs are completely safe and can be taken freely because they can be bought without a prescription, which is a big mistake. Today, experts from the pain department come to summarize the seven mistakes often made when taking over-the-counter painkillers. Misunderstanding 1: take medicine when there is slight pain Although taking non steroidal analgesics in the early stage of pain can help alleviate discomfort, if the medication lasts for more than 2 to 3 days, it will delay tissue repair and healing. At the same time, mild pain has a warning effect, so that our body can avoid continuing injury. For example, if we have knee pain, we will reduce walking and avoid cartilage and synovium damage. Taking painkillers too early will increase the risk of knee injury during walking. Correct practice: if the pain is mild, give priority to non drug therapy, such as hot compress and cold compress, so as to relieve the pain by improving microcirculation, reducing inflammatory exudation and effectively removing the etiology. Misunderstanding 2: I think long-term medication will have side effects Taking nonsteroidal painkillers increases the risk of heart disease, gastrointestinal bleeding and stroke. These risks surge in the first week of taking painkillers, especially those who take low-dose aspirin for a long time. Because aspirin itself is a non steroidal drug, taking other painkillers on this basis will greatly increase the risk of gastrointestinal mucosal damage. In addition, a report released in 2013 showed that taking painkillers beyond the recommended dose within a few days would cause serious liver injury and even death. The best way to take painkillers is to take the lowest effective dose in the shortest possible time. Moreover, appropriate painkillers should be selected according to their own complications, such as patients with gastritis and gastric ulcer. It is best to take orally painkillers that do little harm to gastric mucosa, such as celecoxib. Misunderstanding 3: use painkillers during pregnancy Studies have shown that non steroidal analgesics can significantly inhibit ovulation in women of childbearing age. In 2015, a study found that only 10 days after taking naproxen, 75% of female participants had abnormal ovulation function. Nonsteroidal analgesics can inhibit the release of prostaglandins, which play a key role in ovulation. Fortunately, once you stop taking painkillers, the above problems will be alleviated. In addition, non steroidal analgesics will penetrate the placenta and into the fetal circulatory system, affecting the development of the baby's heart, kidney and other organs. Therefore, pregnant women should stay away from such drugs. Correct practice: if there are pain symptoms during pregnancy, we should also use physical therapy such as hot compress and massage, or it is safer to use drugs under the guidance of doctors. Misunderstanding 4: taking painkillers to prevent sports injury To some extent, taking non steroidal painkillers can encourage people with minor injuries to exercise, and also help reduce the pain of stretching and loosening joint fascia in physiotherapy rehabilitation patients, which is beneficial to physical function rehabilitation. However, this requires professional doctors for rehabilitation and medication guidance. However, if you often take medicine or use it as a means to prevent injury, it will aggravate the original injury. Because pain is a safety mechanism for the body to warn of injury, early use of painkillers will increase the possibility of injury. The correct way to take painkillers is not to be too casual. If you are an athlete engaged in endurance training, you need to replenish water in time after taking medicine, otherwise you may damage your kidney. Misunderstanding 5: use it together with compound cold medicine Many people take analgesics to relieve physical pain when they have a cold or flu. As everyone knows, many compound drugs for treating colds already contain antipyretic and analgesic ingredients. Taking two drugs at the same time will make people double the dosage inadvertently, and there is a risk of overdose and adverse reactions. The correct way to take cold medicine is to observe patiently. Most of them are within 30-60 minutes. With the decrease of body temperature and sweating, the physical pain will disappear. You must not take painkillers at the same time before the cold medicine works. Misunderstanding 6: use it together with antidepressants This is a very common problem. Clinically, it is found that a considerable proportion of adult patients with depression are accompanied by chronic pain, and some of them need to take non steroidal painkillers to solve the pain. A study in 2015 found that taking non steroidal painkillers and common antidepressants at the same time increased the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage. Correct practice: depression patients who often take drugs need to consult their doctors regularly if they want to take painkillers. Moreover, the pain symptoms of some patients are Somatized symptoms caused by depression. Antidepressants alone can alleviate the pain symptoms, and non steroidal painkillers are not required to be taken at the same time. Misunderstanding 7: take medicine only when you feel unbearable pain Many people think that painkillers have side effects and think that they should eat as little as possible, so they take them every time when the pain is unbearable. This is wrong. Taking medicine only when the pain is serious not only has poor effect, but also often leads to re medication in a short time due to incomplete analgesia, resulting in drug overdose, which increases the risk of side effects. Correct practice during the treatment period, take medicine regularly according to the doctor's advice, so that the drugs can form a stable blood drug concentration in the body and produce a stable analgesic effect, which is conducive to the patient's emotional stability, the recovery of immune function and accelerating the body's recovery. (outlook new era)