eli5 How does paracetamol work?

Question

eli5 How does paracetamol work?

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Answer 1

Brain scans suggest it affects your perception of pain. It decreases connections in the pain of your brain that creates a pain sensation.
A way to think about it is to compare the pain of hitting your toe at work vs hitting your toe at 3am on the way to the toilet. The pain stimulus is the same but the perception is different. Panadol is similar.
It has other effects but they all seem fairly mild compared with its effect on the brain