How can the same medication (e.g. ibuprofen) be designed to target specific body parts? Is that just marketing, or does the formulation make a difference?

Question

I see adverts all the time, ibuprofen designed to target joint and knee pain… then the next ibuprofen one might be targeted for headaches… I always wonder whether either would do the same job as the other one as they’re both ibuprofen.

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Ibuprofen specifically targets inflammation. If a body part is inflamed, it probably hurts. Ibuprofen affects inflamed tissue, nullifying the pain. However, the chemical itself is in your bloodstream, and therefore is going everywhere in your body. You can’t make it focus on one body part over another.”

Other things, like Tylenol (acetaminophen), we have no clue how they work on a cellular level even now. We just know that they do. So having them “target” a specific area is even more impossible than with ibuprofen.

However, we do know that certain painkillers tend to work on different kinds of pain differently. For instance, acetaminophen does not work on inflammation, so using tylenol to aid a sprain or pulled muscle won’t help.