How Do Pain Killers Know Where The Pain

[ameliajj08]

How do pain killers know where the pain is?

[spathiphyllum]

They don't.

[dannyk13]

Good question.

[jno]

http://whoami.sciencemuseum.org.uk/whoami/findoutmore/yourbrain/howdodrugsaffectyourbrain/howdopainkillerswork

[spathiphyllum]

they affect the brain and they affect Neural pathways, if you have pain in your foot, painkillers do not go to your foot to sort the pain. They go into your brain.

[Sqad]

Cus they are clever.

I am not going to go into the nerve pathways from differing parts of the body to the brain because it would be inappropriate in a basically social forum.

Analgesics ( pain killers) can act peripherally ( far away from the brain and at the point of the pain) OR centrally ( as the pain impulses reach the brain which appreciates pain).

That is akk you need to know.

[Sqad]

"if you have pain in your foot, painkillers do not go to your foot to sort the pain. They go into your brain."

Some do...some don't......it is not that simple spath.

[bobmarleykingg]

When part of your body is injured, special nerve endings send pain messages back to your brain. Painkilling drugs interfere with these messages, either at the site of the injury, in the spinal cord or in the brain itself. Many painkillers are based on one of two naturally occurring drugs: aspirin and opiates.