Cyclooxygenase

Cyclooxygenase or COX is like a special helper in your body that helps make things called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are like little messengers that tell your body to do different things like make your blood vessels bigger or smaller or help you feel pain.

There are two types of COX, called COX-1 and COX-2. COX-1 is like the regular everyday helper in your body that helps make prostaglandins for important things like protecting your stomach lining and making your blood clot so you don't bleed too much.

COX-2 is like the emergency helper that only gets called in when there's something wrong, like when you hurt yourself or have inflammation. COX-2 helps make special prostaglandins that help your body fix the problem by making you feel pain and swelling.

Sometimes, people take medicine called NSAIDs that help block COX so your body can't make as many prostaglandins. This can help reduce things like pain and inflammation. However, too much blocking of COX-1 can also cause problems like upset stomachs or bleeding, so it's important to only take medicine as directed by a doctor.