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Regular use of the over-the-counter headache medications acetaminophen, Tylenol, or the NSAIDS including ibuprofen, Motrin and Advil, led to as much as 21% faster functional concussion recovery. Neurology researchers at Seattle’s University of Washington studied the records of 1661 NAAA athletes and military cadets with a mean age of 18 years and will present their data during this April’s American Academy of Neurology 2025 Annual Meeting.

Using activity records pinpointing days until the athletes’s unrestricted return to play (URTP) and time until completely free of symptoms (daysASYMP), the data indicated that over-the-counter pain medication use leads to the 21% faster URTP as well as 15% shorter daysASYMP.

These over-the-counter pain medications, analgesics in medical jargon, reduce brain tissue inflammation. Since much of this inflammation occurs within the first 24 hours after injury, that’s the best time to consistently use these analgesics.

Even though the NSAID medications are better anti-inflammatories, there was little evidence that they performed better than the acetaminophen. That is likely because both types of painkillers effectively treat headache, and relief of this symptom correlates well with overall recovery.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/over-counter-analgesics-improve-concussion-outcomes-2025a100063h

#concussion #headache #analgesics #acetaminoophen #NSAIDS #urtp #daysasymp

Common Pain Pills Speed Concussion Recovery

Dr. Howard Smith Reports