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Is Ibuprophen Bad For You?

Dr. Stephen Graham • January 14, 2014

On this video Dr. Stephen Graham an east end Louisville Chiropractor explores the dangers of taking the over the counter drug, Ibuprofen.

Dr. Graham reports that Ibuprofen includes such OTC’s as Advil and Motrin. Aleve is listed as Naproxen. However, all these are listed under the heading of NSAID’s (non steroidal ant-inflammatories). The way NSAID’s work is they interfere with specific enzymes that trigger inflammation. This will in effect slow inflammation down, thereby decreasing the pain.

Most people that have mechanical problems to their spine such as disc degeneration, bulging discs, and stenosis will have inflammation. This inflammation will actually put pressure on the nerve and cause pain. Ibuprofen and the other NSAIDs as mentioned earlier, will interfere with inflammation producing enzymes.

Although in many cases it will lessen back pain there are some real side effects from taking Ibuprofen that are quite disturbing. Some of these common side effects from taking Ibuprofen are as follows:

Most common

Abdominal pain

Acid or sour stomach

Belching

Bloating

Cloudy urine

Decrease in amount of urine

Decrease in urine output or decrease in urine-concentrating ability

Diarrhea

Difficulty having a bowel movement (stool)

Excess air or gas in stomach or intestines

Full feeling

Heartburn

Indigestion

Itching skin

Pain or discomfort in chest, upper stomach, or throat

Pale skin

Passing gas

Nausea

Noisy, rattling breathing

Rash with flat lesions or small raised lesions on the skin

Shortness of breath

Swelling of face, fingers, hands, feet, lower legs, or ankles

Troubled breathing at rest

Troubled breathing with exertion

Unusual bleeding or bruising

Unusual tiredness or weakness

Vomiting

Weight gain

Less common

Abdominal cramps

Stomach soreness or discomfort

More rare side effects are:

Agitation

Back, leg, or stomach pains

Bleeding gums

Blistering, peeling, loosening of skin

Blood in urine or stools

Bloody, black, or tarry stools

Blurred vision

Burning feeling in chest or stomach

Change in vision

Chest pain

Chills

Clay-colored stools

Coma

Confusion

Constipation

Cough or hoarseness

Dark urine

Decreased urine output

The main concern though should be the harmful effects to the stomach lining.

‘Everyone who takes NSAIDs will get small erosions of the stomach, which can happen after a single dose,’ says Dr Ray Shidrawi, a consultant gastroenterologist at Homerton University Hospital in London.

Other side effects that should be a concern for men are erectile dysfunction. Renal cell cancer is also an effect from taking too much Ibuprofen.

Natural type remedies are white willow bark, omega 3 from such sources as salmon and of course ice is a great topical to remove inflammation.

One danger in anti-inflammatories is that it lessens the pain and people tend to do more thus possibly damaging the area even more. Dr. Graham suggests the best thing to do is to remove the cause. Most of the time Dr. Graham states that back pain is caused from misalignments to the spine, disc degeneration, bulging discs and stenosis all of which responds well to de-compressive adjustments that Dr. Graham performs in his office.

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