Panadol and aspirin: Parents should be cautious about giving it to their children

Panadol and aspirin are two pain relievers and fever reducers that parents often give to children. However, parents need to note about the correct dosage.

Are you sure you have complete knowledge about the use of these two drugs? Let's check with aFamilyToday Health in the article below.

What are Panadol and aspirin?

Panadol

Panadol with the active ingredient paracetamol is a narcotic, relieving pain reliever that relieves pain such as headache , toothache, muscle pain, joint pain or persistent pain. It is also used to treat symptoms such as allergies , colds, coughs and flu . Despite certain side effects, paracetamol is still believed to be safe for use by both adults and children, since the side effects of the drug are relatively less likely than other pain relievers. It is also believed that paracetamol is safe to use with other drugs.

Dosage: 500 mg -1g every 4-6 hours, maximum 4g per day. Children over 12 years old take 1-2 capsules every 4 hours. Parents should not take more than 8 tablets within 24 hours and should not use with alcohol.

Aspirin

Aspirin is a non-sedating anti-inflammatory, used to relieve pain and inflammation caused by joint pain, muscle aches, sprains , back pain, headache, sore throat, toothache, and nagging pain. . Aspirin can cause many side effects if taken too often or too often. You should not take it with medications or vitamins, herbs, or other nutritional supplements.

Patients with haemophilia clotting disorder , taking anticoagulants or having open wounds should not take aspirin. In addition, people with asthma , kidney problems or gout should consult their doctor before taking.

Dosage: 300 - 900 mg every 4-6 hours, maximum 1 day 4g.

What is the difference between Panadol and aspirin?

The main difference between the two drugs is that aspirin reduces inflammation and swelling. Besides, it also relieves pain and reduces fever. So aspirin is a better choice when a child has symptoms like inflammation or swelling that are accompanied by pain like joint pain, toothache, persistent pain or sore throat.

However, experts recommend that paracetamol should be given to children first because it is milder. Paracetamol is also a drug that can be used safely in the permitted dose in children.

Cautions when using panadol and aspirin

If your child is under 16 years old, you should consider giving aspirin to your child because there is an extremely dangerous condition called Reye syndrome . It is a rare syndrome, often causing damage to the brain and liver. The disease can occur at any age but is noticeable in children recovering from viral infections. Children with chickenpox, flu at risk of the above syndrome when using aspirin for treatment.

Chickenpox and flu both cause headache symptoms, but parents need to pay attention not to give children aspirin to relieve pain. Your baby is very likely to be infected with an unknown virus and develop easily into Reye's syndrome. In this case, you should take ibuprofen or paracetamol instead.

Hopefully the above article will help parents wiser in reducing fever for their baby.