Is this a bit Ridiculous?

[CathyOne]

Now normally I just go around the supermarket mindlessly, getting what I need & not paying much attention to anything else.

Today, I noticed the Nurofen display, I don't buy supermarket painkillers (need something with a little more ooomph! LOL!), so I was a bit taken aback when I saw 'Nurofen for BACK PAIN! Wow, I thought, maybe something a bit stronger!

No, just 200mg of Iboprufen, there are EIGHT different varieties of Nurofen on the Coles shelves - Back Pain, Migraine, Period Pain, 'Zavance' (fast acting), Regular tablets, caplets, & liquid capsules, (one other that I can't think of now) Now, all these different varieties have the same stuff - 200mg of Iboprufen!

Am I missing something here? Or is this just too ridiculous? Is there a person out there buying Nurofen for Period Pain & then ducking down the shops when they have back pain to buy another packet?

[lucyloo]

I noticed this as well Cathy. I just buy plain old Nurofen Plus...I would never think about buying the ones the ones that are targeted for a specific area. Just another way of a big company getting more money I suppose.

[CathyOne]

I'm a Nurofen Plus fan too! Seems to do the job for most aches & pains.

[Naomi]

We're living in Copenhagen at the moment and can't get ANY medications at the supermarket (except at the service counter, and even then only one packet at a time - this is strictly enforced. And it's basically one option for paracetamol and one for ibuprofen). I would love to have eight varieties of nurofen and countless paracetamol options :hehe:

I guess it's all about marketing, with 'new' products. I love seeing television ads, panadol will release a new product and a couple of weeks later nurofen will be advertising their "same, but better" product.

[eLL85]

You know what I love... fast acting and normal. I mean hmmmmm, let me think. Do I want to use the fast acting and have my migrane gone in 10 min or would I prefer to sit it out for another 1/2 hour. Let Me Think.

[Perfectly Precious]

LMAO that is just ridiculous............I'm asthmatic so can't have ibuprofen or any anti inflammatorys :(

[CathyOne]

You know what I love... fast acting and normal. I mean hmmmmm, let me think. Do I want to use the fast acting and have my migrane gone in 10 min or would I prefer to sit it out for another 1/2 hour. Let Me Think.

:jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump:

That is so funny, eLL85!

[Sunny]

Talk about consumer fatigue!!! i find it ridiculous with just about anything thats not in the fruit and veg aisle!

[old woman]

:jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump::jump:

That is so funny, eLL85!

made me laugh to!

we can only buy one pack of 16 in our supermarkets yet i can go into the chemist and get a box of 100 paracetamal!! crazy:headh:

[Gin please!]

How dumb is that..

[Binx]

But I love the fact that I get a variety of colours.
The back pain is green. The period pain is blue. Fast acting is yellow.
Alllllllllllllllllll the pretty colours!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Melinda]

I love nurofen plus....any type will do...:hehe:

oh i just cam back on to say i buy the cheap brand, i think its called panafen plus..works a treat

[Binx]

Melinda, panafen is the most effective pain reliever I've ever tried for my teeth.
Too bad I can't find it everywhere.

[Frannie]

How dumb is that..

Not quite as dumb as the people that fall for it..........LMAO

[Rachel]

I had never even looked at them before I keep panadol around the house but generally we don't ever need painkillers... it is interesting to know that generally the different types just equal different marketing stratergies!

[miss kiki]

it is silly. :yes: i would never and haven't went out to buy the same pain killer, except with different sayings on the bottle..no way. :hehe:

[Melinda]

Melinda, panafen is the most effective pain reliever I've ever tried for my teeth.
Too bad I can't find it everywhere.

i bought it at a chemart chemist, if you cant track it down maybe i could send you some..

[2catscan]

I read recently where these painkillers had been tested - might have been by Choice - and they were basically all the same - just labelled "for back pain" etc, but no real difference in the composition. It is a marketing ploy. You are just as well off buying the standard supermarket brand of paracetemol or ibuprofen - and it's much cheaper - that's what my orthopedic specialist told me anyway.

[Gin please!]

I get panamax from the hospital which is basically the same as panadol...but I have to be in a bad way to take any kind of pain relief. I just don't like what they can do to your body and especially your liver.

[sandydee]

:hehe: they had an article on tv some time back saying that they are the same thing :yes: just another marketing ploy:hehe:

[eLL85]

I wonder if maybe they have a different coating... you know to be digested in different sections of the gut and thus work on those areas more effectivly. Probably not.

If I want an anti inflammatory I use Voltaren 25's you get them from the chemist and for back pain issues or for those of you who get tension headaches like me they are BLISS! and you can combine them with Paracetamol and Codeine tablets for added pain killing boost if its really bad.

[2catscan]

When I was hospitalised for herniated disks in my back, they first gave me morphine - big mistake, because I vomited for 5 hours straight. So they had me on a cocktail of panadol, ibuprofen and valium. Valium apparently is great for back injuries as it is a muscle relaxant and with any type of back injury you tend to clench your muscles which makes it worse. Now I rarely have to take anything but always keep plain old paracetemol, cheapest brand, in the house, and take two after doing something heavy like mowing, as instructed.

[Shade]

Quite frankly, I think it's ridiculous for supermarkets to sell ibuprofen.

This drug is indiscriminately mixed with various other medications which lead to countless complications. And yet it's being portrayed as harmless by the sale of it in supermarkets. The way that they're then advertised - as highlighted by this thread - only enhances this (misleading) image.

Ibuprofen is not an innocuous drug with one size fits all. It's certainly a safe drug when used for short periods in relatively fit, young people. The problem is others are at risk - kids under 16, asthmatics, pregnant people, the elderly, those on multiple medications (eg. cardiac, cholesterol, anti-depressants), people with ulcers and gastric complaints and those with underlying diseases. Ibuprofen has the potential to really wreck you.

People "fall" for this sort of advertising because they are groomed to trust the source. Medicine has long been promoted as a safe source of information and to that end we've found it in government and legally regulated venues such as clinics, pharmacies and hospitals. Now that the supermarkets have them, there's an implication that supermarkets are also trusted venues and they are simply not. I don't call them dumb, I call it being let down by a system that is supposed to protect people who don't know any better.

[Sunny]

Good points Shade, im pretty sure that ibuprofen is even contraindicated with some birth control pills.

[Melinda]

I agree Shade you can buy to much at the supermarket that can do you harm if your not taking it right.

[noodledoo]

Wow it does sound ridiculous. I certainly hope that this doesn't lead to people becoming addicted to pain killers.

[Nicole83]

I only use nurofen plus too. Its the only pain relief that helps my headaches, even if it is just for a short period