When I was about 10, Tylenol made the news. It was acetaminophen, the latest thing in pain relief, a highly recommended replacement for aspirin. It came in liquid form, gel capsules, and tablets. I didn’t like it; aspirin worked better for most of the pain I felt. Ibuprofen started out as Advil, but I didn’t buy the name brand when it was new, thinking it would be as useless to me as Tylenol had been. After our son was born, ibuprofen was recommended for my infant’s pain. It also came in liquid and tablets. I read all the materials we were given as patient education, including what acetaminophen and ibuprofen were for. I noticed that Tylenol was labeled “analgesic” and ibuprofen was labeled “anti-inflammatory”. Once I understood the function, it made sense to me why acetaminophen was not the cure-all it was touted as. My primary pain relief needs have been anti-inflammatory.

I keep acetaminophen in the house, mainly for those headaches that can’t be touched by ibuprofen. Current counsel says you can take both at once, alternating times so they’re two hours apart. It’s a neat trick that falls down a few hours in, because one lasts four hours and the other lasts six. Hopefully by then you’re asleep and not feeling the pain.