Ibuprofen Hurts Exercise, Toxic to Athletes
Dr. Noel Peterson
As an “older” athlete, I’m often asked what I do to control pain so that I can exercise. My answer is usually “What pain?”
I’ve known lots of people who refer to Advil as vitamin “A”, and I even know a group of windsurfing dentists who go by the moniker “Club Advil”. As doctors and members of the bio-medical elite, they should know better.
Maybe it’s just good luck (I doubt it, I’ve broken more bones than I care to count), or possibly my attitude (not really, I’m just as big a whiner as the next bloke), but I generally do not experience pain related to exercise.
I avoid NSAIDS because as it turns out, ibuprofen and other NSAIDS are no friend to those who exercise. Decades of research have shown that while these drugs control pain, usual doses of NSAIDS will interrupt normal collagen formation, and can literally stop the process of tendon and ligament repair. In addition to inhibiting the very repair needed after wear-and-tear athletics, ibuprofen actually increases exercise inflammation.
I’ve known lots of people who refer to Advil as vitamin “A”, and I even know a group of windsurfing dentists who go by the moniker “Club Advil”. As doctors and members of the bio-medical elite, they should know better.
Maybe it’s just good luck (I doubt it, I’ve broken more bones than I care to count), or possibly my attitude (not really, I’m just as big a whiner as the next bloke), but I generally do not experience pain related to exercise.
I avoid NSAIDS because as it turns out, ibuprofen and other NSAIDS are no friend to those who exercise. Decades of research have shown that while these drugs control pain, usual doses of NSAIDS will interrupt normal collagen formation, and can literally stop the process of tendon and ligament repair. In addition to inhibiting the very repair needed after wear-and-tear athletics, ibuprofen actually increases exercise inflammation.
David Nieman studied the effect of NSAIDS on endurance runners at the Human Performance Laboratory at the North Carolina Research Campus. He found that runners who’d popped over-the-counter ibuprofen pills before and during a race were found to have a higher inflammation response afterward than the runners who had skipped the NSAIDS. Regular ibuprofen users also showed signs of kidney impairment and, both before and after the race, of low-level endotoxemia, a condition in which bacteria leak from the colon into the bloodstream, known to cause cartilage and joint degeneration. This is nothing new. Other studies have also shown that taking the usual doses of NSAIDS will interrupt normal collagen formation, and can literally stop the process of tendon and ligament repair.
An article from the NY Times points out just how bad an idea it is to take ibuprofen. You can read the article on my blog: www.prolodoctor.wordpress.com.