If the medicine disrupts the pain message between brain and nerve, how do different medicines do this differently?
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Hi. Doctor here. Pain medicine is a proper specialty (therefore a complex subject), but the TLDR is as follows:
Like any electrical signal, pain has an entire travel pathway from the furthest nerve ending where it originates to the pain-processing-centres in the brain. Intercept the signal anywhere along the path, you get pain relief.
Some pain killers stop the signal at the source (nerve ending) by reducing inflammation, like Ibuprofen.
Others stop the signal from being processed in the brain centers, like Paracetamol and Opioids, among others.
There are many levels, receptors and painkiller strengths involved but I hope this simplification helps.
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