Pain Reliever Study States Most Effective One is…..
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When Birch is in pain, I deliberate which pain reliever to give him: Children’s Motrin or Children’s Tylenol? Both are in our medical bag for him, so this choice comes up more often than not. Sometime it is a matter of sleep: I know the Motrin has a longer effect (up to 8 hours) vs. Tylenol’s 4 to 5 hours. This spring the first study of three common painkillers found that ibuprofen (brand names: Motrin and Advil) work best for kids with broken bones, bruises and sprains. Ibuprofen beat both acetaminophen (brand name: Tylenol) and codeine in a study in the emergency room at a Canadian hospital. (Wow! It even beat codeine?!) 300 children were treated. The kids, aged 6 to 17, rated their pain and those who took ibuprofen rated they had better pain relief. So, when to use acetaminophen? This is from the National Institute of Health: "Acetaminophen is a non-aspirin pain reliever. It
can be used to lower a fever and soothe headaches and other common
aches and pains. However, acetaminophen does not reduce swelling
(inflammation). This medicine is easier on the stomach than other pain
medications, and it is safer for children. It can, however, be harmful
to the liver if you take more than the recommended dose."
So, it appears that if Birch suffers inflammation I use ibuprofen, and for fevers and aches to use acetaminophen.
We just went to the kids center because baby had a high fever and a cold- we had been giving her tylenol, but the doctor said they recommend Motrin 4-1 in their office- they also suggested alternating between the two. It does seem to last a bit longer and has been working really well for us!