Guide

How to make painkillers work faster

3/11/2023

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

You can influence how quickly painkillers kick in. Here’s a trick that’ll give you the pain relief you long for up to ten times faster.

When you take a tablet for pain relief, the active ingredient has quite a way to go before its signal reaches the brain. The tablet first enters the stomach and from there the intestine. Next, the active ingredient passes into the bloodstream through the duodenum. Finally, the brain’s signal to trigger pain is stopped. If you’re unlucky, the whole process can take up to 100 minutes. In other words, you’ll be stuck enduring the pain for over an hour and a half, despite having taken a pill.

Your position makes a difference – stay on your right side for quick relief

However, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have shown that you can shorten the process considerably with a simple trick: adjust your body position. Why does this make a difference? It comes down to the shape of your stomach. On the right side of your body, the distance from the oesophagus to the intestinal entrance is considerably shorter than on the left. Lie on your right side after taking a tablet, and the active ingredient will take the shorter route into the intestine, where it’s absorbed into the bloodstream and can take effect.

Lie on your left side, however, and the tablet has to take the long route through the stomach. As a result, the effect is delayed. In their study, the researchers came to the conclusion that this may accelerate the effect by up to ten times.

Due to the asymmetrical shape of the stomach, its movements as well as gravity, the active ingredient will reach the intestine, and thus the bloodstream, at different speeds depending on the position of the body.
Source: Khamar Hopkins/Johns Hopkins University

Sometimes, however, you want the exact opposite. Think prolonged-release tablets: they should unfold their effect over a long period of time, i.e. act slowly. In this case, it makes sense to lie on your left side so that the active ingredient enters the bloodstream very slowly.

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Don’t take tablets on an empty stomach

An empty stomach can also accelerate the effect; the active ingredient doesn’t have to fight its way through any chewed food first. Even so, it’s not recommended to take tablets on a completely empty stomach, as many active ingredients can attack the stomach lining. You might end up fighting your headache at the price of stomach pain, which is hardly worth it. This is why doctors often advise taking tablets together with a meal. Like this, the active ingredient won’t attack your stomach lining, but your stomach won’t be completely full yet either. There is an exception: tablets explicitly intended to be taken on an empty stomach. Liquids also promote absorption, so be sure to always wash down your pills with a glass of water.

Header image: Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

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Anna Sandner

Senior Editor

Anna.Sandner@galaxus.de

Science editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always the outdoors - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.

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