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OVER-THE-COUNTER PAIN RELIEVER STRENGTH

Headache remedies, by law, cannot chemically be any stronger than that of any competitor's over-the-counter pain reliever, therefore all of these type pain relievers have virtually the same pain killing powers. However, after listening to or reading pain reliever advertisements you would think there may be a big difference between brands when possibly there is little or none!

Incidentally, advertising claims that say "doctors recommend" or "most used by hospitals" may mean the hospitals get a certain brand of aspirin or pain reliever for FREE so, of course, a certain brand can claim to be used by most hospitals. All brands are virtually the same anyway so why not use the brand that is distributed to the hospitals free? A certain brand pain reliever may be distributed to hospitals free just so the pain reliever company can make the claim in their ads that their brand is the one used by most hospitals!

To claim that "doctors recommend" a particular brand most often only require a pain reliever company to hire a couple of doctors who will say they personally recommend a certain pain reliever and the company can then go out and advertise that their brand is "recommended by doctors!"

Moreover, with all the headache advertisements you see and hear you would think that most people get headaches or that headaches are a common occurence in most people when, in fact, most people do not get headaches!

"Extra strength" pain relievers may not even be a good idea or provide any great pain relief advantage. It is just a larger dose packed inside a single dose.

Three regular dose pills may work better for you than 2 extra strength pills whereas one extra strength pill may not be enough, while 2 extra strength may be way more than you really need. With all the concern these days about pain relievers and potential liver damage, if you consume certain amounts of alcohol in conjunction with some pain relievers this could be a critical mistake!

Additionally, how long a dose lasts may be fairly insignificant. All short-acting, regular strength, over-the-counter pain relievers work for about 4 hours at which time, if necessary, you can take another dose.

A typical headache may often not even return after one dose of a short-acting pain reliever so you may never need "duration" or longlasting relief for up to 8 or 12 hours! Actually it may be overkill to take extra strength doses and maybe not even a very healthy practice.

"Longlasting" and "extra strength" relief for many of us may be just another in the long line of marketing gimmicks used mostly to confuse the buying public into spending more for extra strength remedies instead of actually making an effort to inform the public about what is really best for them! The more confused consumers remain the more likely they may buy into costlier marketing gimmicks!

SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: CONSUMER REPORTS MAGAZINE MAY 1996

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