Advil or Tylenol for Pain Relief?

A common question people ask me is "What’s better for pain relief - Advil, Aleve or Tylenol?"

I’ll start by saying I’m not a medical doctor so I cannot give advice on using pharmaceuticals. I can, however, share information that’s well researched and documented about what they do.

What’s important to understand is that even though these drugs are over the counter and easily accessible, there are serious harmful effects associated with their use.

And what really bothers me is how people are conditioned to take these products without regard, as if they had no potential consequences. It’s bad enough we’re taught to reach for these pills for any discomfort. But there are many who even take them consistently as a preventative before working out, running, etc.

Products such as Advil, Motrin and Aleve are considered non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAID’s) and are associated with the following serious adverse effects:

• Heart attacks

• Stroke

• Stomach and small intestinal ulcers/bleeding

• Infertility

• Kidney disease

Here are two black box warnings for NSAID’s, one for cardiovascular risk and one for gastrointestinal risks:

"Cardiovascular risk: Serious cardiovascular thrombotic events: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) cause an increased risk of serious cardiovascular thrombotic events, including myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, which can be fatal. This risk may occur early in treatment and may increase with duration of use."

"NSAIDs cause an increased risk of serious gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events, including bleeding, ulceration, and perforation of the stomach or intestines, which can be fatal. These events can occur at any time during use and without warning symptoms. Elderly patients and patients with a prior history of peptic ulcer disease and/or GI bleeding are at greater risk for serious GI events."

The risk of these effects is increased when taken with other drugs such as anti-depressants.

Tylenol is a different type of drug called acetaminophen, which is associated with liver toxicity and liver failure when taken too much.

These are only the serious side effects. There are many others such as nausea, vomiting, headaches, skin conditions that are also possible.

There’s plenty of research that demonstrates this. And not only do the pills carry risk, but they don’t even correct the problem.

My point is this - while there might be a place for these substances with appropriate, minimized and controlled usage, they are not without risk and not as safe many think they are. Just because something is heavily advertised and easily accessible, doesn’t mean it’s safe and/or effective. I would personally do all I can to avoid taking such things and find a better way.

There are plenty of options available to help safely and effectively address pain such as lifestyle modification, exercise/movement, herbal/enzyme remedies, chiropractic, acupuncture, physical therapy, nutritional changes, breath work, etc.

In fact, there are multiple peer reviewed research studies that demonstrate chiropractic adjustments are actually safer and more effective in treating back and neck pain than non steroidal anti-inflammatories.

If you’ve ben suffering and taking any of the above pain medications, consider a more natural and effective approach to addressing the actual cause of the pain and reducing the risk of harmful side effects.