I just thought of a conversation I had a few years ago and thought I would see what you think about this.
In 2006, I was taking intensive Bulgarian because I hate myself or something, and I had a headache. I mentioned this to my Bulgarian teacher and somehow the topic of taking aspirin as a headache cure came up. She told my class that she only heard of this from American movies and TV shows and that “Bulgarians are different” and that “it doesn’t affect us the same way.” Basically, according to her, Bulgarians are fundamentally different from Americans because aspirin doesn’t work as a headache cure. She said that her boyfriend tried it once after seeing Bruce Willis take aspirin for a headache once in a movie and it didn’t work, and she laughed at the idea, because OF COURSE, everyone KNOWS that aspirin doesn’t cure headaches (at least for Bulgarians).
Unsurprisingly, I was like “whaaaa?” but didn’t pursue the line of discussion. These are the same people who swear up and down that the best way to cure a hangover is to eat sheep stomach soup, so I never know what to take seriously when it comes to Bulgarian medicinal ideas.
Anyway, that was a digression. My question is: is it commonplace in your country to take aspirin for headaches, or is that a particularly American idea?
When I lived in Scandinavia, the popular headache remedy was an Alka-Seltzer-like tablet of aspirin. Tasted horrible, worked wonderfully. How I do miss Treo.
In Spain it is very common to take aspirin for almost-any-aches. The main exceptions are period pains (ibuprofen is the usual painkiller for those), tummyaches (which, if it’s a type you haven’t had before, you should see a health specialist and ask what to take) and pain in people who’ve recently had surgery or given birth.
Ibuprofen and paracetamol are the other two most-common ingested painkillers, with codeine frequent in topic form (sprays and creams).
Well, I think the Bulgarians use aspirin for other aches and pains, or my teacher’s boyfriend wouldn’t have had it readily available to him. Just not headaches.
Either way, it seemed like a weird assertion to me.
If I’m out of migraine meds, I take aspirin, caffeine and damamine. If I wait too long, then my homemade aspirin concoction does exactly bupkis, but if I catch the headache in the first half hour, it usually works pretty well.
Huh. In the US, it’s KIDS who are supposed to take paracetamol (the brand name of Tylenol is probably more familiar to Merkins) and avoid aspirin. Aspirin has been linked to some rare problem or other in kids. Many adults take Tylenol, many take aspirin, many take ibuprofen. Personally, I take ibuprofen.
Reye’s syndrome
My parents never gave me aspirin as a kid, so I never got in the habit of using it. I use ibuprofen for anything inflammatory, and Tylenol/acetaminophen/paracetamol for fever and flu symptoms. I almost never get headaches, but when I do, I usually use ibuprofen. I call it Vitamin I, although I’ve had to become much more judicious about using it since I started having stomach issues.
I don’t get many headaches, so my first choice of analgesic is usually paracetamol. If it doesn’t go away or is a really bad headache, generally ibuprofen. I, personally, have found aspirin to be a better analgesia/anti-inflammatory than either of those, so I save it for the really heavy duty headaches.
As a child, aspirin was pretty much all that was available OTC. Nowadays it’s most definitely NOT recommended to give to children.
Sorry if this comes off as bitchy, guys, but my question really wasn’t “what medication cures your headache best?” but “is aspirin considered to be a useful headache medicine in your country?” I think we’re getting a bit off track.
Yes. In Australia, aspirin is considered to be a useful medication for the relief of headache. Not as commonly used as it once was, but definitely still efficacious.
I see ads for other analgesics a lot more, but Aspirin and other brand names of Acertylsalylcylic acid are easily available almost everywhere up here. I normally take Tylenol or Ibuprofen though.
I didn’t grow up with aspirin, so its use is totally foreign to me. We might have had a bottle in the house, but I grew up always thinking “OMG Reye’s Syndrome!” (I actually STILL don’t know what it actually is, but I know there is a small risk of Bad Things ™ happening when kids take aspirin. ::opens wikipedia:
I prefer my near-infinite stash of meloxicam for nearly any kind of pain, but will reach for acetaminophen or naproxen in a pinch. Ibuprofen is dosed too often, and having to ensure that I have a meal with it is inconvenient. (I have stomach issues anyway, and live in constant fear that I’ll upset the great cosmic forces that keep it ticking).
In Australia more than likely to be Paracetemol or Ibuprofen - can’t really recall advertising for anything other than these, which is likely to drive usage. Specifically I take Nurofen for period pain/headaches, unless it’s a migraine in which case I can get Imigran OTC.
o-acetic-salicylic acid, although I may have misplaced a y or two. Forgot to add, in Spain nowadays many preparations are in salt form, rather than the acid.
