An old trick is better than a bag of new ones, at least when it comes to pain relief in Sweden. Most people are very brand-loyal.

Pain Swedes do feel pain. About a fifth of Sweden’s adult population experience long-term pain, and in one out of three households there is someone who needs treatment for pain, most often in the back or neck, according to a 2003 study¹. A third had not used any medication, while half had used prescription drugs.

It turns out that many – perhaps most – people choose a familiar medicine when it comes to non-prescription painkillers. The brand that’s been used at home is the brand they stick to, in sickness and in health.

"The way people self-medicate for their pain is very individual. Some people try to live through pain, while others reach for the pills when they feel something. People are brand-loyal", says Maud Aronsson, a pharmacist at Kronans Droghandel, a chemist’s in Stockholm.

Paracetamol wins
in popularity

Many Swedes seem to like the fact that they can get advice at the pharmacy. And that’s good, because, according to Aronsson, the problem with brand loyalty is that too many people use the same medicine for every kind of pain, whether they have a headache or a swollen knee.

"The most popular painkiller in Sweden is a paracetamol-based one, with ibuprofen and acetylsalicylic acid also in the top three," says Aronsson.

Too many people use the same medicine for every kind of pain.

However, various kinds of gels have also increased their share of the market steadily, accounting for over 10% of the market for pain-relief products.

Overdosing is
a real problem

Unsurprisingly, paracetamol is also the painkiller involved in the most cases of overdose. According to Läkemedelsverket, the Swedish Medical Products Agency, overdosing on paracetamol among teenagers is a real problem. In 2009, a limit of 20 tablets (500 mg) was set for packages of paracetamol sold over the counter.

"We can’t control how people use the medicine, but our recommendation is, for example, to use painkillers no more than three times a week for headaches. And when the pain gets bad, it’s time to go to the doctor," says Aronsson.

Does Aronsson have a favourite painkiller? "Well, I try not to take any," she says, and laughs, "but if I take something, it’s the one we’ve always had at home."

Medicines have entered
Swedish supermarkets

The Swedish state deregulated its medicine retail market in 2009, stripping the state-owned Apoteket of its monopoly. Since November 2009, Swedes have been able to buy over-the-counter medicines at supermarkets and petrol stations.

The current Swedish over-the-counter-medicine market is estimated as being worth 380 million euros a year. In the first six months of deregulated operations, about 10% of total sales had moved to non-pharmacy outlets, according to trade magazine Fri Köpenskap.

"We actually expected to lose about twice as much," Aronsson says.

¹ Pain in Europe/Den svenska
undersökningen, Göteborg, the 8th of October 2003,
Svenska Smärtföreningen/in co-operation with Mundipharma.

Text Risto Pakarinen | Photo iStockphoto