Why You Shouldn't Take Advil and Ibuprofen For Pain Daily
Advil, Aleve, Celecoxib, Nerofen, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, and so on, I am sure you are familiar with these brands of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). A lot of people use these medications on a daily basis because they have pain in one part of their body such as the back or a headache. It is not bad to take NSAIDs when prescribed by a doctor but you see in my area, and in most underdeveloped and developing countries, we have a lot of self-acclaimed doctors who would prescribe anything for a sickness. In my area, if you tell someone you have back pain or headache, the next thing you would be advised to do is get an NSAID. When you go to the roadside drug shop, and you tell the storekeeper that you have pain in your body (either your head, chest, waist, back, neck, leg, metacarpals, tarsals, or anywhere else), the next thing you would be handed will be one of those brands I mentioned at the beginning of the post. If you are reading this post and you take any of those NSAIDs brands, then you should know that you are causing significant harm to yourself and they will have health consequences. These damages might not show up for years even though the damage is happening daily.
Most pains in the body are caused by inflammation, and this is established in so many scientific literatures such as The Biochemical Origin of Pain: The origin of all Pain is Inflammation and the Inflammatory Response. PART 2 of 3 –Inflammatory Profile of Pain Syndromes. If you ask a person what inflammation is, they will tell you it is bad and very painful but then let me let you know that inflammation is also part of the healing cascade. Just for you to know, the healing cascade includes hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. When there is an injury, the next step after homeostasis is inflammation which involves heat, swelling, pain, and discoloration, and the fact that a lot of people see this pain as negative at all times and are willing to get rid of it as fast as possible, they immediately turn to the drug that will make the pain go down. Using NSAIDs continuously can lead to long time pain over time as the healing cascade will be hampered.
Taking Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) blocks the cyclooxygenases (COX) enzymes in the pathway to reach prostaglandins and thromboxane which then reduces the pain, and prevents other signs of inflammation, thereby blocking the normal cascade of healing. Asides from this, using Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) regularly can deplete iron and folic acid storage in the body. You would be surprised at the fact that you eat foods such as red meat, seafood and so on that are supposed to provide you with iron only to see that you have anemia and then you start to worry. Well, the answer is the Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that you take regularly almost every time every day and it depletes the iron and folic acid storage which is needed for the production of red blood cells.
Another established scientific fact is that using Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) excessively can increase blood pressure. It is very possible to have changed your diet, and change the type of exercise you do but still have increased blood pressure. If you take NSAIDs regularly, then be sure that it is the cause of the increase in blood pressure. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and Asthma flareup are synonymous, as they can increase the symptoms of asthma, also they can to bleeding and perforation of the Gastrointestinal tract. You must have heard the roadside drugstore seller asking you if you do not have an ulcer. This is something that the drug sellers where I live do, and they ask this because it can cause bleeding of the gastrointestinal system which includes the stomach, the esophagus, and the small intestine. The kidney is not spared with excessive intake of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as it damages the kidney causing chronic kidney diseases and different forms of kidney injury. Also, anti-inflammatories interact with a lot of drugs causing Drug-drug interactions, especially with protein-bound drugs competing for binding sites.
Conclusion
Pain can be mild, moderate, or severe, and we can experience these pain types at different times. If you experience mild pain, then you shouldn't take Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). This is a normal inflammatory process that is involved in the healing cascade. In cases of Severe pain, then you can take Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for just a few days so as to reduce the pain to moderate or mild pain. It is important to visit the doctor when you feel pains in your body, and not be fast to take Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in every type of pain everyday.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771434/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534261/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3813081/
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/nutritional/iron-deficiency-anaemia
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3201839/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8101828/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5072955/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8002800/
https://www.uptodate.com/contents/nsaids-acute-kidney-injury
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Taking NSAIDs is a routine in this part of the world, both during menstrual cramps as girls take this on a regular basis to help ease the pain. Most time people usually don't understand the mechanism of action of these drugs they are taking. People actually take this for a long time and unknowningly to them that prolonged use of these drugs can cause ulcer. Most People are just please with it's action on pain and not minding the side effects.