I’m taking Tylenol for some stupidly self-inflicted lower back pain currently, and it got me thinking about how I usually take this medication for when I have a fever, as it reduces it. However, now that my body temperature is normal, I can take it for my muscle pain and there is no risk of my body temperature dropping below normal. How exactly does this work? I read about how it acts on the Hypothalamus, leading to reduced fever, and also about how it reduces inflammation, helping with muscle pain. But I’m still a bit confused on how it doesn’t affect my body temperature the same way if I do not have a fever?
In: Biology
You are assuming that acetaminophen sends the body a signal to the effect of “lower the temperature!”. But this isn’t the case. It basically just counteracts the body’s signal to go into fever mode. Without this fever signal, your body just returns to its normal “temperature settings”.
The body responds to chemical signals. Acetaminophen messes with the chemical signals that say, “Crank up the heat so we can fight infection.” But when you’re taking it for just pain, your body isn’t sending those signals, so that part of the drug does nothing.
Basically, it’s not like the hypothalamus is a thermostat and acetaminophen always turns it down. It’s more like you’re disconnecting the wire the thermostat would use to turn on a heater.
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