system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
When pain killers stop pain, do they stop pain from being sent, or block pain receptors so we just don't feel it?
gpt
High school answer, since no others here:

Pain is largely a product of prostaglandins which are released near the injury or inflammation. Prostaglandins create the classic red, hot, swollen, painful look, and pain sensors send signals up through the brain stem.

Anti-inflammatory medications reduce pain by blocking the production of prostaglandins.

Painkillers like opiates act on receptor sites in the brain stem and brain to suppress the perception of pain, with little effect on the local inflammation.

Local anesthetics work by overwhelming or suppressing the transmission of pain signals from the site of injury. Spinal block during childbirth is a similar process applied to the lower spinal cord.