Medications

There are many medications, both over-the-counter and prescription, that can help to reduce pain. Some of these medications work best with acute pain, while others can help with chronic pain. Each medication has a slightly different mechanism of action in how it reduces pain. For example, some medications act to suppress nociceptive signals from reaching the brain, while others alter how the brain processes pain once the nociceptive signals are there. This section reviews some of the more common classes of pain medications.