Over-the-Counter Drugs Used to Treat Back Pain

If you've sustained a low-level injury to your back (straining or twisting it, for example), then your first call doesn't always need to be the doctor. Most people can manage common back injuries with over-the-counter drugs, and physiotherapy products such as orthotics and braces. Over-the-counter drugs for back pain are divided into two categories: those that help block pain signals in the brain (acetaminophen and its variants), and those that are anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen). If you're experiencing back pain and haven't had a serious injury, here are the types of over-the-counter drugs that will be most useful for you.

Acetaminophen drugs

Acetaminophen is an analgesic. It inhibits the production of cyclooxygenase, an enzyme which helps the brain produce prostoglandins. Prostoglandins mediate pain, fever and inflammation. In their inflammation-reducing capacity, they are somewhat similar to the other over-the-counter drugs you can take for back pain, NSAIDs.

You can take acetaminophen even if you are on blood thinning drugs such as Warfarin -- unlike aspirin, acetaminophen does not act to stop the blood clotting. If you are on any medication, though, let your pharmacist know in case there are potential interactions you need to know about.

If you have strong back pain, beware of acetaminophen toxicity. Even if you take different brand names, an overdose can still cause significant liver damage. This risk is increased if you drink alcohol while using acetaminophen. There are several different brand names of acetaminophen for back pain (Anacin 3, FeverAll, Datril, Panadol, and the best-known one, Tylenol).

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

These are a non-narcotic form of pain-relief drug that you can get over the counter for back pain. They are safe to use in conjunction with acetaminophen, but remember to respect individual dosage limits for each drug.

Anything with the active ingredient ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac or licofelone is a common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. These work as acetaminophen does, by inhibiting cyclooxygenase, but typically different isoenzymes are inhibited.

Short-term pain relief is a must for back pain -- but you definitely need to address the underlying causes of the problem in order to prevent it from getting worse.

Strategies for Relieving Runner's Knee Pain

Running is one of the most satisfying activities for many of us -- the quiet, the concentration, and the intense physical exercise that it gives us is good for both the body and the soul. However, the prevalence of concrete and bitumen running surfaces in the modern world also makes patellofemoral pain, or runner's knee pain, a common occurrence. This can be as incapacitating as back pain and elbow pain in everyday life -- here we tell you about both short- and long-term strategies for getting rid of knee pain from patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Short term strategies for knee pain

You are probably doing most of these short term pain relievers anyway -- our body is quite good at telling us what it needs, sometimes! In the interest of completeness, though, to counter knee pain from running first make sure you:

• Avoid aggravating the injury -- try to limit your weight bearing activities as much as possible, and avoid activities where you must bend your knee frequently.
• Massage your knee with a heat cream or athlete's cream. Don’t let the increased comfort tempt you into doing normal activities that might worsen your knee pain, though.
• Ice your knee for 15 minutes every 2 hours in the period immediately following the start of your knee pain. Apply the ice to the entire knee area of the leg, not only the knee itself. Move it around as much as you need to for comfort.

Long-term strategies for knee pain

If your daily activities are being interfered with regularly because of knee pain, you'll want to know what long term steps you can take. Having excess fluid drained from your knee can be a slightly longer term solution, however it doesn’t attack the underlying problem.

The reason that many people develop the knee pain associated with patellofemoral pain syndrome is because of a pronation or other abnormality in the feet which means the patella and trochlear groove rub against each other abnormally.

Sports orthotics are good way to correct these abnormalities in the way weight is distributed across the foot. Once you have your orthotics in place, you'll need to do some additional exercises to help correct the foot abnormality and blast your knee pain, including:

• Quadriceps strengthening exercises
• Stretching for tight hamstrings or iliotibial bands
• Stretching for tight calf or hip muscles
• Training in proper running technique