Why taking Ibuprofen could be the worst thing you could do for yourself...

I am by no means against taking medication, but we often forget, even when taking over-the-counter drugs, the reason these things change our present situation.  It's not simply that we are experiencing something undesirable, take a magic pill, and turn off the annoyance, though it may often seem that way.  What we are actually doing is turning off mechanisms and biochemical pathways that result in the "symptom" we are experiencing.  By turning off or altering these mechanisms, we also create a domino effect, turning off systems that are in place further down the line.  The processes that get interrupted are usually referred to as the "side effects," unless, of course, those effects are the desired outcome.

The reason I bring this up is because often, people will experience something in their body that they consider undesirable, like pain, and will instantly reach for Advil/ibuprofen to make it go away.  Since most folks are not biochemists, and are trained that ibuprofen and other "NSAIDs" are often the answer by medical doctors and pharmaceutical ads, they don't stop to think why it makes the pain go away or what other processes may be affected, so I'm going to teach you!

Advil and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce inflammation by interfering with an enzyme in the pathway that creates prostagladins called cyclo-oxygenase.  But prostaglandins are used for a lot more than just to create pain to indicate we've damaged something.  They also help our blood clot when we get injured, promote the production of mucus to protect our stomach lining from our digestive juices, and promote inflammation. 

Why in the world would we WANT to promote inflammation? 

Because that same inflammation is what tells our body where we need to heal!  It's a message that new tissue needs to be laid down.  By taking Advil, you are turning off the distress signal, letting your body know it has work to do!  Seems a little counterintuitive, doesn't it?  So if you need to cut the cycle off temporarily just to get through a rough patch, that's up to you, but taking these medications when your body is trying to recover from exercise, injury, or overuse will simply slow down the healing process... which I'm sure was never your intention.  Instead, get checked out by a good chiropractor, learn to use ice, heat, nutrition, rest, and even Epsom salts accordingly.  You'll bounce back faster than ever!