Anti-Inflammatories and Lower Back Pain
Without a doubt, we live in a society of busy people. Between work, family, household chores, and other errands, it can be difficult to put time into other things. This is also true when it comes to injuries. When we get injured, it can be tough to find the time to fix it, so we often resort to an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory to ease the pain. Deemed as the “quick fix”, they certainly won’t take up your time so you can go about your daily tasks. While that is helpful, the latest research has found that taking those medications could turn your short term pain into a chronic problem.
A 2022 study published by Science Translational Medicine (link to the study here) has found that using over-the-counter anti-inflammatories for pain management of lower back pain has been linked to developing a chronic condition. But why is this the case?
It’s important to understand that, while often miserable, pain is actually good! Pain works as your natural fire alarm, letting you know when you have sustained damage and your body needs repair. This pain signal comes from inflammation, which is the redness and swelling you will often see at the injury site. Inflammation is made up of chemicals and cells that will clean up the damaged area and then mend it back together. Without inflammation, healing doesn’t happen.
One of the key cells aiding in our inflammatory response is called a neutrophil. This white blood cell is drawn to the area of damage and sets the stage for injury repair. Unfortunately, when you take an anti-inflammatory, this whole process is blocked and neutrophils become inhibited. Yes, you will feel less pain, but you will also block your healing mechanism. Ultimately, your healing process slows and has been found to actually increase your odds of turning your acute pain into chronic pain.
Just like the alarming findings with opioids, more research is coming out that drug based pain management is not the answer. I get it, when you are experiencing intense pain, taking the edge off with some medication can be hugely helpful to reduce your suffering. That being said, as this study suggests, you should not fall into the trap of using these medications daily to manage your pain. Having some pain is good because it means your body is trying to heal; you just need to learn how to manage through it.
Beside the problem of prolonging pain, taking these pain blocking medications has additional issues. By blocking and ignoring the pain, you aren’t really fixing your problem. Instead, you’re kicking the can down the road until the pain cycles back. I see this all the time with many cases of people in the endless cycle of pain because they have never faced the underlying cause. In most cases, recurrent pain is attributed to lifestyle and can be corrected in a variety of ways naturally. Yes, this will take a little more disciple than popping a pill, but the payoff is far better and all of the side effects are amazing. These side effects include improved strength, better flexibility, weight loss, and better sleep.
So, if you’re suffering from pain of any kind and are tempted to simply take a couple of pills to ignore it, think twice. It feels like the easy answer, but it’s long-term effects could ultimately make your life more difficult.
Dr Rob Liguori
