Can Ibuprofen Prevent You From Healing?

Certain over the counter (OTC) pain medication falls into a class commonly known as NSAIDs. This means Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs. Medications like Advil, Ibuprofen, Aleve, Naproxen, and Aspirin are part of this group. They function by releasing chemicals that block inflammation. So basically you have an injury which causes inflammation to be released and you experience pain, swelling, and/or loss of function as a result. The NSAID blocks, or attempts to block, the inflammatory process from occurring or to at least reduce the severity of it with the goal of reducing your pain.  Our doctors at Newark's Best Chiropractor, Advanced Back & Neck Pain Center, discuss what sort of effects can be expected from taking these types of medications.

While this sounds great on the surface, inflammation actually plays a pretty important role in how our body works. This process brings important mediators of healing to injury sites in an attempt to improve them. This could include white blood cells and other components, but one that we are interested in is a hormone-like fatty acid known as a prostaglandin.

Prostaglandins act as chemical messengers in the body and are very important to how we heal. NSAIDs directly act to limit prostaglandin production. While this can reduce your pain and swelling, it can also have a significant impact on how well, or how much, you can heal. As a result, use of NSAIDs has been linked to the following outcomes:

• Slower Healing Processes
• Impaired Bone Fracture Healing
• Negative Effects on Tendon Healing
• Negative Effects on Ligament Healing

Now does this mean that one Advil is going to kill you? The answer is of course no. But too many of us are relying on daily NSAIDs as a way to manage their chronic inflammation. This can cause significant problems and most importantly, prevent you from healing properly! Remember that pain medication is ONLY ever designed to help you FEEL better. As chiropractors, our goal is help you feel better AND HEAL better!

If you are dealing with chronic pain and having to take regular NSAIDs, please call us! Our treatment methods at Newark's Best Chiropractor, Advanced Back & Neck Pain Center, are designed to get to the root cause of inflammation and correct the injury at it's source, not just minimize the symptoms. Contact us at 302-368-1300 or visit www.advancedback.com to schedule consultation now and find out how we can help!