How do painkillers work?

I took painkillers last week for period pains,obviously they don't cure it,just stop the pain. So do the painkillers stop my brain from registering that somewhere hurts.

well that depends on the kind of that pain killer, well if you meant something like paracetamol or asperin those stop the pain through inhibiting some enzymes responsible for inflammation(that has role in curing the inflammation too), but types like morphine or codiene or tricyclic antidepressants or something like prozac just block certain receptors in the brain responsible for pain feeling

Percocet works. I should know, I'm on it now! Makes me loopy, though...

depends what pain killers you're taking. some work in the brain to "down grade" the effects of pain that your cramps are sending. others will stop proteins that help make the chemical that causes pain.

Well.. i know painkillers come from a plant bark which natives chewed to relieve pain.. the name of the plant evades me but it nonetheless exists.. eventually they targetted the chemical that did this and made a pill.. the pill actualy inhibits some of your nerves and stops you from feeling the pain at that moment. your brain can't register it.

I dunno.. But dats real good stuff

Depends on the painkiller. NSAIDs (generally, over-the-counter painkillers like ibuprofen, aspirin, etc) work in the periphery to reduce production of pro-inflammatory mediators, which are responsible for amplifying the pain signal. Acetaminophen (tylenol) appears to work more centrally (as in the central nervous system). Opiates work at various levels in the central nervous system to reduce pain signals from entering the spinal cord and modulate the pain signals that do enter.

hmm think of it this way.
they are like a serious headache pill.
they stop a nevre that sends your feeling of pain.
and with a painkiller it stops your feelings.

They kill pain, nuff said