Beer the painkiller?

Steve Parker / CC

Two or three beers may be a better painkiller than the stuff you get in the drugstore, according to a British study. Researchers (Greenwich University) discovered strong evidence that alcohol is an effective painkiller. They also concluded the more beer people drank, the less pain they felt. The study compared 18 different controlled experiments that involved 404 people. They found that a blood alcohol content of .08, about three or four regular drinks, can reduce pain by up to 25 percent. It also increased pain tolerance a little.