A study warns of the ineffectiveness of ibuprofen to treat back pain
Usually when something hurts or you have some kind of discomfort, your eyes turn to the medicine cabinet to find a medication to solve this situation. Among the most common in this area of the house are anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen. This product is widely used for muscle pains in the area of the back and neck.
However, a new study conducted by the George Institute of Global Health, in Australia, ibuprofen does not help when it comes to treating Back pain and also has side effects that make one think about whether it is convenient to take this medicine because it could give more problems than it solves.
Placebo effect
This group of researchers has spent years investigating the influence of ibuprofen on back pain and if it actually solves it. To date, they have carried out 35 clinical trials in which more than 6,000 people have participated. The analysis of all these data has resulted in the conclusion that this product is not very effective when dealing with these problems.
In fact, the results of these trials showed that in only one out of six cases did ibuprofen significantly reduce the back pain of the participants. This study also highlighted the side effects of this medicine and that make their consumption increase the risk of suffering from some type of gastrointestinal problem and ulcers. The intake of this product also entails having 2.5 more chances of suffering some episode of bleeding.
Prevent is the best medicine
According to the researchers seeing the ineffectiveness of ibuprofen to treat back and neck pain, and the side effects that it entails, it is better to resort to other methods for these problems. The best mechanism according to this team is prevention. In the day to day you should take care of the posture in all possible ways, starting with the posture of it.
Experts recommend how the better posture that in which the head and shoulders are aligned with the pelvis, hips and knees. The sternum should be pointing forward and abdomen collected. You should avoid that where the buttocks are not in the back of the chair and where the back is not resting on the backrest. It is also necessary to avoid picking up the legs and placing them on top of the padded area of the seat to be placed on them. The head should always be straight and look forward and try to avoid shoulders being supported behind the pelvis. In this way it will be possible to avoid suffering from the spine and pain in this area of the body.
As for children, special care must be taken in the school backpacks. The weight that students carry should never be excessive and these products should also have good handles, padded to protect the shoulders and ensure a proper distribution of the load without one area receiving more than the other.
The use of backpacks with rollers is also recommended for an easier transport of the school material and to avoid that this load falls on the back doing it suffer. The school furniture must also be adequate and avoid back pain. The use of standard tables and chairs is discouraged since the different heights of the students may cause not everyone to be able to use the backrest of their seats.
Damián Montero:
