RRC Archives

FYI, ibuprofen and Aleve act in the same way and can both cause stomach ulcers if you take them chronically. In order to get the anti-inflammatory effects of ibuprofen, you need to take 600 mg 4 times a day. Alleve is 275-550 mg twice a day. Both should only be used for 1-2 weeks at that dosage. Other than that, they're actually GREAT drugs and often will work better than narcotics even as long as people don't anti-placebo themselves out of it.

As for the injury, it sounds like it could be in one of three places, the muscle, the tendon or the tendon insertion into the bone. Where exactly is the pain? Is it actually the bicep or the elbow itself?

Taking the anti-infammatories actually make healing take longer. Inflammation is the body's method of healing. So, only take them if you absolutely have to.

Quite true, but they can be very effective if used for only a few days to help keep the body from generating such a strong immune response that it actually does more damage to the tissue. This is the same rationale for using ice on injuries. The best use for these drugs is for pain control. If it still hurts all the time you tend to protect the injury by self-splinting it, i.e. the muscle won't fully relax. This causes increased healing time and may decrease flexibility afterward as well.