bp's science: how do painkillers work? (v.1)

I was talking with my sister the other day and we were discussing headaches. Nauseating headaches. We both get them. And frequently. We're trying to figure out why we get them and how we can prevent them. I'm always coming up with theories about my headaches. As for treatment: I drink water, try to sleep consistently, attempt to be knot-free; but when that's not working I do something that seems to work and that I'm comfortable with. I take one (1) ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) within the first 1/2 hour of feeling the headache and I am usually in the clear. Sometimes the pain is not fully alleviated from this treatment but the edge is taken off. Good enough for someone who is not a big fan of taking painkiller.

The question is, how do painkillers work? There are several out there, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin and they all work using a similar mechanism. When you experience pain (say a headache), a protein in your body makes chemicals that tell your nerves to send a signal of pain. What a painkiller does is bind onto the protein which stops it from making chemicals that would send a pain message.

Think of it this way: say you're at a party and you don't want to talk to your ex-boyfriend (bear with me here). You represent your head, your ex-boyfriend represents the protein, his voice the pain chemical. If your ex-boyfriend sees you at the party and starts talking with you, you will hear his voice and thus experience pain. But, your good friend (who represents the painkiller) intercepts your ex-boyfriend before he can get to you, and ties him up with conversation where he can't get a word in edgewise. Thus you never hear his voice and you won't experience pain.

Quick review:
head = you
pain chemical-producing protein = ex-boyfriend
pain chemical = ex-boyfriend's voice
painkiller = good friend

See, it's always nice to have a good friend around.