– How Acetaminophen reduces body temperature when taken for a fever, but doesn’t make it too low if taken for muscle pain

Question

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

Answer 1

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”.