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Interesting Ibuprofen query
Alex Staniforth2
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Hi all,
Talking to a friend recently about my inflamed shins and he said that his Physio (who used to be Physio for a major football team) told him that all elite athletes are practically always in pain and they take Ibuprofen every 4 hours for this, which kicks in after a few weeks for a full anti-inflammatory effect.
Is this true?
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Comments
i wouldn't think so as it would mask any potential injuries and therefore make themselves more likely to get injured........
also long time use isn't any good...........
pain is the bodies way of telling you to notice what you are doing........
if they were in that much pain that ibuprofen wouldn't touch it once they had been using it for a few weeks.....
Taking NSAIDS for a period of several weeks can have a greater overall anti-inflammatory effect. But it's not recommended. I was prescribed naproxen twice a day forever last year and after a few weeks of constantly taking it, it made an enormous difference to my ankylosing spondylitis.
However, the side effects of prolonged use of NSAIDS are not happy ones. It's a great way to increase your chances of an early death as it quite frankly fucks up your stomach, liver, kidneys. I'm now managing my symptoms via weight loss and exercise (which is why I'm here!).
Talk to your doctor before taking any drug for a prolonged period, even if you can get that drug over the counter.
Its possible that professional teams will take fairly extreme measures to ensure their assets (i.e. players) are available to boost results (both sporting & financial). Professional sport is a short-term career, as an amateur I'm more interested in long-term health.
There's been a few stories about the implications of ibuprofen on the kidneys, and results from a studies on runners (I think its on the US site, but google should find it).
The following link also shows some of the nasty side-effects:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/102201-ibuprofen-side-effects-longterm-use/
Personally I'll happily take them for a few days if my legs are particularly bad after a race (i.e. DOMs) or I've got a minor injury, But I'd never take them before a run, and wouldn't take them for more than a few days at a time.
PS maybe this is why the physio is no longer with the footbal team
Treating the symptoms rather than the cause isn't the best medical approach
Thanks all.
With me there's not much that can be done for the cause- my shin attachments are inflamed literally because of growing pains (bone growing faster than muscle causing tightness/irritation) which will cause no harm if I train through it and will subside naturally.