For example, I had mild toothache on and off since July and paracetamol pretty much did nothing. I may as well have been eating smarties, then I had the offending tooth out and the bruising on my jaw from the injections has been much more painful but paracetamol stops the pain within 15 mins. Why didn’t it work for the much milder toothache?
In: 10
The paracetamol needs to be able to reach the source of the pain. Toothache from nerve damage in the root is damn near impossible to reach; teeth are insulated. The pain from the procedure and amputation of the tooth are pains from the gums. Which you can reach. Furthermore, the stress on the gums from the procure wil have increased blood flow as the body tries to heal itself. More bloodflow means more paracetamol reaches.
Another way to treat pain in the mouth is by dissolving a painkiller in water and drinking it. Keep it in your mouth for a while. The painkiller is then already where it needs to be; faster and easier. You can use a lower dosage for higher effect because you’re not numbing the entire body for one place.
I’m terrified of dying because I imagine it being more painful than a toothache. I got one on a Friday night one time and had to go all weekend. I gargled tequila all weekend and I don’t remember it helping. My friend told me to get some cocaine and rub it on my gums. I didn’t know any cocaine dealers.
You should read my other comment [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/zn74g7/eli5_why_do_certain_painkillers_work_for_certain/j0fyxcv/)
To answer your question more directly though, pain is super complicated.
Pain is foremost a psychological phenomenon, not physical like most people think.
Pain happens inside the brain and can be influenced by a lot of factors. Painkillers will change the way the brain handles pain responses, but again it can get pretty complicated.
There are a whole bunch of physical factors that will change the perception of pain, like the type of pain, the duration of the pain, the intensity of the pain, other physical processes like inflammation and fevers.
And there are also a whole bunch of psychological factors that will change the perception of pain like mood, emotions, conscious attention, distraction, etc.
There’s no short answer here unfortunately, and it’s really anyone’s guess what happened in your specific case.
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