NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Technology

It's about how much you want to pay

By Dr Michelle Dickinson
NZ Herald·
18 Dec, 2015 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Painkillers targeted at migraines contain exactly the same agent as general relief products. Photo / Supplied

Painkillers targeted at migraines contain exactly the same agent as general relief products. Photo / Supplied

It's that time of year when Christmas chaos, family dinners and too much office party wine add up to a visit to the pharmacy for some pain relief.

Whether the holiday season gives you a tension headache, migraine or backache, there seems to be a box of painkillers targeted specifically for your needs.

But how can a painkiller that you swallow and digest then direct itself to the specific part of your body that hurts?

If you live in Australia, that question has been answered and the science says it can't.

The Australian painkiller section is about to get much smaller after drug company Reckitt Benckiser was ordered to pull its site-specific painkillers off the shelves.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The company had admitted products marketed for specific types of pain such as tension headache and period pain were identical to their general product even though they cost twice as much.

The court found these site-specific Nurofen products all contained exactly the same active ingredient, 342 milligrams of ibuprofen lysine (equivalent to 200mg of standard ibuprofen) and that none were any better at treating one type of pain than other products in the range.

It is not the only company to do this. A simple scan along the painkiller shelves reveals a series of site-specific labelled painkillers with premium pricing containing the same active ingredients as the standard cheaper version - resulting in the biggest pain being in your pocket.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Painkillers work by blocking enzymes everywhere in the body, not just in the area causing pain. Injury and infection result in high levels of chemicals called prostaglandins being produced locally which cause symptoms including redness, swelling, heat and pain more broadly known as inflammation.

This is an important part of the body's normal healing process and the prostaglandin inflammatory response makes us aware that there is a problem preventing us from further injury by immobilising a joint through swelling or indicating we need to remove our hand from a hot surface.

This natural response, however, can sometimes lead to too much or chronic prostaglandin production, making us feel pain when we don't need or want to feel it any more.

The likes of ibuprofen, paracetamol and aspirin work by inhibiting the synthesis of prostaglandins by interfering with the action of an enzyme called cyclo-oxygenase which catalyses the conversion of a compound called arachidonic acid into prostaglandins. Fewer prostaglandins means less pain and inflammation.

Discover more

Opinion

Would you eat a burger grown in a lab?

12 Nov 11:24 PM
Technology

Kiwi firm leads way with sweet plastic

20 Nov 04:00 PM
Lifestyle

Trusty sunscreen does hard yards against rays

27 Nov 07:18 PM
New Zealand

Herd selection could provide a leg up

11 Dec 04:00 PM

Ibuprofen and aspirin reduce both pain and inflammation, whereas paracetamol reduces pain only.

The price difference between generic, brand name and site-specific painkillers can be up to 10-fold, but there is no reason to expect one product to be more effective than another. Where the products do vary is in how long it takes a tablet to dissolve in the stomach once ingested due to liquid and solid forms of capsule with some having faster-dissolving coatings on the surface.

This doesn't make them work better, it just makes them absorb and act more quickly.

As New Zealand is currently keeping site-specific painkillers on our shelves, it's totally up to us, the consumer, to make an informed decision. Science says the only difference is how much you want to pay.

• Dr Michelle Dickinson, also known as Nanogirl, is an Auckland University nanotechnologist who is passionate about getting Kiwis hooked on science.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Technology

Premium
Business|personal finance

Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

04 Jul 05:00 AM
Premium
World

No one likes meetings. They’re sending their AI note-takers instead

03 Jul 07:00 PM
Premium
Business

Cloudflare introduces default blocking of AI data scrapers

03 Jul 02:59 AM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Technology

Premium
Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

Surge in new vehicle sales: Industry insiders explain three factors behind spike

04 Jul 05:00 AM

Tesla and BYD fight it out in a resurgent EV market.

Premium
No one likes meetings. They’re sending their AI note-takers instead

No one likes meetings. They’re sending their AI note-takers instead

03 Jul 07:00 PM
Premium
Cloudflare introduces default blocking of AI data scrapers

Cloudflare introduces default blocking of AI data scrapers

03 Jul 02:59 AM
NZ taxpayer-funded $29m satellite likely lost in space

NZ taxpayer-funded $29m satellite likely lost in space

01 Jul 10:26 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP