How does a doctor determine the right type of analgesic?

How does a doctor determine the right type of analgesic?

Marc Darrow (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Joint Rehabilitation Sports Medical Center, Inc. ) gives expert video advice on: Besides analgesics, what other treatments are there for acute pain? and more...

Analgesics, as a whole, are considered to be medications, but analgesia is just the process of taking pain away. So, if we're referring to analgesics as medications and there's an acute injury, doctors will often jump to using NSAIDs, which are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications; things like ibuprofen that can be taken orally. They will help reduce inflammation and oedema, and in doing so help take the acute pain away.