What's on Your Mind

[Insertnamehere]

Why don't they make OTC pain-relievers that are not antipyretics at the same time? Fever is a natural and beneficial defense mechanism of the body. You only need to reduce it if it's getting above 40 C.

I have a headache for the second day now, and I can't even take a pill for it, because I don't want to bring my fever down.

Because pain, fever and inflammation are induced mostly by the same signaling pathways, namely prostaglandins and most antipyretics/antiinflammatories/pain relievers target the same enzyme that produces them, COX-2.

That said, there are pain-specific pharmaceuticals. These mess with the receptors of pain signals at the neuron level. Morphine and the likes will do this.

Anesthetics like lidocaine block voltage-gated Na+ channels in the neurons of the nerve in which it is applied. This causes an inability of the neuron membrane to undergo depolarization upon receiving a pain signal and so it can't transmit it.

Pain is a good thing too, you know? Without it you'd never know when something is going wrong with you and you wouldn't have made it pass childhood.