The first study that compared these painkillers’ side to side found that ibuprofen was the most effective for children. Researchers found that ibuprofen was better than acetaminophen and codeine at alleviating the pain from fractures or serious sprains suffered by children who were treated in the emergency room.

Ibuprofen is the Superior Pain Reliever for Children

Ibuprofen, which is sold generically and under brand names like Advil and Motrin, was found to relieve pain within one hour when a single dose was administered to 100 injured children.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and codeine’s pain relieving abilities in children.

Ibuprofen also had the ability to lessen pain more than the other two medicines, based on research that was printed in Pediatrics. Pediatrics is the name of the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In this study, the three painkillers were given orally to 300 children between the ages of 7 and 16.

One of the following medications were administered to the children:  10-milligram dose of ibuprofen, 15 milligrams of acetaminophen, or 1 milligram of codeine.

The results indicated that pain relief occurred in 45 of the 100 injured children who took codeine and in 38 of the 100 children who took acetaminophen.

Regular doses of the drugs were given to one hundred patients. Next the children were asked to indicate their pain levels on a 10 centimeter-long scale upon ingestion and again after an hour had passed.

Peter said,” This is a very common, pretty accepted and validated method to measure pain in children.”

Ibuprofen had the best score, with a decrease of 25 millimeters among those children who rated their level of pain reduction after an hour had transpired. The pain reduction percentages where twice the amount than acetaminophen and codeine.

Plus, after an hour had transpired, adequate pain relief, or a score below 30 millimeters, was reported by more children who took ibuprofen.

It can be difficult for parents to decide which pain reliever is best for their children because both acetaminophen and ibuprofen are effective in bringing down fevers. Although codeine will help reduce a fever, you cannot get it without a prescription, because it is a mild narcotic.

Peter feels that the study should make it easier for parents to make the correct choice.

But ibuprofen by itself may not be enough, since it only relieved the pain in approximately half of the children.

Peter wrote that, according to a number of studies, inadequate levels of analgesia are provided to both pediatric and adult (hospital emergency room) patients.

The relief of pain was more effective when using ibuprofen, rather than acetaminophen, for migraines and tonsillitis, as shown in previous studies.

Tags: acetaminophen, codeine, ibuprofen, painkillers

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