When you use pain medicine, how does it know where to go?

Answer 1

There are neurotransmitters and hormones and the like called cytokines and prostaglandins. Pain is really in your brain, and is interpreted as such by these signalling agents sent out by damaged cells. They circulate throughout the blood stream until they reach an appropriate receptor on a neuron to trigger a response. Pain medications block the action of cytokines and prostaglandins, or they bind to the opiate receptor sites of the brain (like morphine) and block the pain impulse. Other pain medications, like local anesthetics, block the nerve impulses altogether, so no pain signals are able to be transmitted (lidocaine comes to mind).
Pain medications can also have localised anti-inflammatory properties, and reduce swelling around an injured area. Swelling compromises cellular blood supply, so the injured cells send out cytokines and prostaglandins......etc.
See David Feldman's book, "How does aspirin find a headache?" for the answer to these and other imponderable questions.

Answer 2

It doesn't really target the area, it travels through the bloodstream, and the parts that hurt will feel better. For example an anti-inflammatory will take down swelling and often the swelling causes the pain.

Answer 3

pain medicineor any other medicine work on mainly receptors and enzyme

particular cell are having perticular receptors
for example cancer cell having receptor which are detected and attached by anti cancer drugs

for pain mainly drugs act by inhibition of enzymes produced by pain causing tissue for example
if u got injured
injured tissue releases TNF and PG i.e prosta glandines that causes swelling and pain

pain killers act on pathway of these eenzymes thus inhibits its production and relives pain and swelling

hope it will help u

Answer 4

pain is a signal mechanism. the painkiller just shuts that pathway down. doesn't mean it fixed the problem it just shut down the signal pathway so the brain doesn't register pain

Answer 5

Please see the webpage for more details on Pharmacology, the study of how substances interact with living organisms to produce a change in function.

Answer 6

It goes everywhere there are pain receptors. They are throughout your body.