medicine / drug / remedy (for only internal use or not) (2025)

Hi, I'd like to know if "medicines", "drugs", and "remedies" are, in general, all for only internal use. For example, if someone said "The doctor gave me a medicine/drug/remedy for my backache", does it mean that the doctor gave him tablets, capsules, powder, liquid, etc. to swallow/drink? I think "medicine" and "drug" mean that, but I'm not sure about "remedy".

I looked up a couple of dictionaries, and it seems that hot/cold compresses etc. are called external medicines/drugs/remedies. So, these words (medicine, drug, remedy) all apply to both internal and external treatments and you can't tell by the example sentence above if the speaker received tablets/capsules etc. or hot/cold compresses etc.

I don't know why my Collins dictionary says "Medicine is a substance that you

in order to cure an illness". It confused me.

[Conscutive posts have been merged. Lauranazario - moderator]

We talk about medicines etc. being taken orally, or by mouth, but I can't immediately think of any particular adjective that's used for this.

However, creams, lotions, ointments etc. are called topical treatments, meaning that you must only apply them to the

of your body.

Thank you both very much. My unreliable Japanese-English dictionary says that the pills, powder, liquid, etc. that you take orally are called...

(an) internal/oral medicine
an internal remedy

and the creams, compresses, etc. that you apply on your skin are called...

a medicine/lotion for external/outward application
an endermic drug
an external remedy

So, "internal remedy" and "external remedy" make sense to me, since I think what Suzi said is true.
But "internal/oral medicine" sounds redundant, if what lingobingo said is true (I think it's true).

All those definitions are fine, even if they're not terms widely used by "the main in the street".

Wikipedia's entry on external remedies has the title Topical Medication.

It also has an entry for Oral Medicine, but this (surprisingly) is about medicines for

the mouth (rather than medicines

by mouth).

meijin said:

For example, if someone said "The doctor gave me a medicine/drug/remedy for my backache"

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That is not idiomatic
Informally: "The doctor gave me some pills/tablets/cream for my back."
Formally "The doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory/antibiotic for the patient's complaint/infection."

lingobingo said:

All those definitions are fine,

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So...what does "internal medicine" mean? "Medicine" itself means medication taken orally or by mouth, doesn't it? What is the adjective "internal" for?

The word medicine has wider applications than simply meaning an oral remedy. So the adjective "internal" is useful.

(I seem to have inadvertently, and instinctively, come up with the best term there – oral remedy! )

lingobingo said:

oral remedy!

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Is there any chance it will be misunderstood as remedies for treating the mouth?
But if it sounds more natural than "oral medicine/medication/drug" or "internal remedy/medicine/medication/drug", I'll happily use it.

It's a widely used term, but it does tend to suggest an over-the-counter product more than a prescription-only medicine.

And (unbelievably!) one company markets a product actually called Oral Remedy, even though it's not something you take by mouth but a medicinal gel to be applied to the mouth/gums and then spat out!

Mothers give their children oral remedies all the time. It's called "kissing it better".

Let's not forget that remedies are not necessarily medicinal in nature (in the sense of being chemical substances). I don't know if that's what suzi was hinting at in #4.
If you're overweight, a remedy might be simply to eat less and exercise more.

meijin said:

Internal Sleep-improving Drug Purchasers". Does it sound extremely odd in English (even if the report is to be read only by people in the marketing industry)? Maybe "Oral Sleep-improving Remedy Purchasers" is better?

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The word "drug" is enough: it implies something you swallow, and gets absorbed by the body. In AE we say "sleep-inducing" rather than "sleep-improving", but phrases on products often say "sleep better" or "sleep sounder" since it sounds nicer than "inducing".

So for a group of people on a survey, "Sleep-inducing drug purchasers" is reasonable. It could even be "Sleeping drug purchasers".

The only non-drug "remedies" I know about are things you put on your nose (like a small bandage) to open your nostrils while sleeping -- this is supposed to reduce snoring -- and CPAP machines, used to prevent sleep apnea.

Anything that body tissues absorb is a "drug". Most are swallowed (ingested). Some are injected with a hypodermic needle. Some are suppositories, inserted in the rectum (then absorbed). Some are in the form of lotions or creams spread on the skin: those would be drugs which affect the skin, or the muscles under the skin.

Ignoring doctors and prescriptions, "medication" can mean any drug, while "medicine" is usually a drug you swallow.

"Oral" means "in the mouth". There is oral surgery. There are oral ailments, and drugs to help them: used in the mouth, not swallowed. So when normal people talk, "oral" is just about the mouth.

But in a doctor's prescription "take this drug orally" or "take by mouth" means swallow it (as opposed to placing it in the rectum or rubbing it on the skin).

[Conscutive posts have been merged. Lauranazario - moderator]

dojibear said:

The word "drug" is enough

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In the UK, the word "drug" tends to imply an illegal drug, one taken for "recreational" purchases. It tends to be avoided, I think, in this sort of context?

lingobingo said:

In the UK, the word "drug" tends to imply an illegal drug

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That's why we don't have drug stores.

lingobingo said:

In the UK, the word "drug" tends to imply an illegal drug, one taken for "recreational" purchases. It tends to be avoided, I think, in this sort of context?

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If you are ill/ having a lot of drugs I think you are more likely to say drugs. I did. Context dependent, though. In suppprt if lingo's point:
I once saw a documentary where they asked a bunch of pensioners what drugs they used. Out of the blue like that they all said "none". Which was pretty much untrue for all of them!!

Ohh....interesting! My brain's a bit tired because it's the middle of the night here and I spent more than nine hours translating a survey report today, but if I understand correctly, I should avoid using "drug" (to mean medicine) in the UK.

And, in the US, "Sleep-inducing drug purchasers" would probably mean people who buy sleep-inducing medicines to be taken orally, because there are no such things as sleep-inducing creams to apply externally or sleep-inducing suppositories. I want the name of the group to suggest that they only buy oral sleep-inducing medicines (excluding the ones that treat oral ailments).