What do I take, ibuprofen or paracetamol?

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It could be said without fear of being wrong that there is not a single address in our country where there is not one of these two popular pain relievers, or both, and it is that every year paracetamol and ibuprofen are among the most demanded drugs.

Not in vain,

.

But we don't always know which one to opt for when something hurts or when we have a fever, and many times we go to the one we have at home or the first one we see.

There

, even rejecting one of them simply for a matter of trust and fidelity to a certain active principle.

Patients will never cease to amaze me.

paracetamol

It is the

drug , since it has a double function: it is

and

.

That is, it serves us both to control fever and to mitigate pain.

We can find it as generic or under endless trade names: Termalgin, Apiretal, Gelocatil, Efferalgan... But all of them contain the same active ingredient as the main element, generally in concentrations of 500, 650 or 1000 milligrams.

One of the most positive parts of this drug is that

, it is not gastroerosive.

It is the analgesic of choice in pregnant women, and during breastfeeding they can take it with ease as it is considered safe and compatible with it.

The negative part is that if we

overdose, if we take more than we should, it can have

ibuprofen

It is the

drug , since it acts in up to three different ways on our body: it is

,

and anti-

.

It would therefore serve us to control fever, pain and inflammation.

In pharmacies we can find it as generic or under the name of Espidifen, Neobrufen, Dalsy... The usual presentation is in sachets or tablets of 400 or 600 milligrams.

With this drug we must take special care as it

, especially if consumption is continued, and significant injuries can occur with bleeding in the gastric mucosa.

So when do I take each?

It is recommended that we opt for paracetamol

when we have a fever or when we have pain that does not involve inflammation, such as the typical headache.

We will decide on

, such as muscle pain due to a contracture or joint pain.

Is ibuprofen better with arginine?

Among the multiple presentations of ibuprofen we can find one in which the container specifies that it is associated with arginine.

It is a well-known amino acid with multiple uses in medicine, either alone or associated with other active ingredients.

When it is mixed with ibuprofen, we achieve that

and that is why some people think that this combination is better.

The effect of triple A is the same, the only difference is that it is achieved faster.

Can I alternate paracetamol with ibuprofen?

Better not.

This is something we will do

, if there is no other way to lower the fever, and always recommended by your doctor or the child's pediatrician.

By associating the two drugs

, so initially we will always try to control the fever with only one of the two.

Do we live with pain?

If we trust the figures, of course Spain is a country in pain.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health,

.

Analgesics are already the most prescribed drugs in our country, with a clear upward trend since 2012.

We must highlight the data offered by the Spanish Society of Pain, which ensures that

.

Probably the fact that Spain has an aging population is one of the keys to understanding this fact, and it is that the older we get, the more the prevalence of musculoskeletal problems increases, and too often there is no non-pharmacological alternative to this pain.

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• ibuprofen

• Paracetamol

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