Aspirin or Ibuprofen? Heat or Ice?

[Oogiem]

I originally put this in the Women's section but then it's not really just a female issue so I am reposting here:

 

 

OK so I managed to again strain or badly pull several muscles in my back and neck. The same general area that took about 2 months to heal last time and I thought I was better. This time I think I did it with a bit of sheep turning for ultrasounds or perhaps the extra hay lifting I had todo since hubby is so sick he can't even get out of bed right now. 

 

Anyway, on to the question, for fairly severe muscle soreness, and shooting pains do you prefer to take aspirin or ibuprofen?

 

Why would you chose one or the other?

 

And lastly should I be using a heating pad or ice on the injured area?

 

[bigm141414]

I take aspirin. But I take it for a very specific reason: it thins the blood and I have had blood clots so it's about all I take. Ibuprofen I believe is the better choice since you can also take other meds (tylenol ) with it without negative consequences. 

 

For general achiness I used to use Aleve (naproxen) is also a good choice. 

 

As for heat/ice I alternate between the two, starting with ice to lessen swelling and then warmth to make it feel good.  

 

All that said this is an n=1 experiment so YMMV. 

[MasterOfCows]

I start with ibuprofen, and move to naproxen (Aleve) if the ibuprofen doesn't touch the pain.  I never ever use heat, because most of my pain issues are inflammatory in nature, and the last thing I want to do is increase swelling.

[Timmy M]

no time to re-watch this atm but it may make you question using ice...

 

also whenever i have a muscle strain i usually just try to keep it mobile, stretch a bit and massage it some (with hands or cricket/baseball if it's a tricky place to get to) also a good hot bath is meant to help too

[cline]

For pain, Tylenol is a phenomenal pain reliever. People think it's not but it really is - hospitals really do use it.

For a chinless, soreness, stiffness any NSAID (ibuprofen, naproxen, Motrin, etc). If you a sensitive to aspirin, watch the tummy w these too.

If swollen, injured, etc, ice relieves inflammation, and yes there is some controversy now. In the PT world, heat before you work the sad area followed by ice when done. So tomorrow, you might want gentle heat before you get on with the day.

Gentle stretching as tolerated might help. Gentle gentle

[Raincloak]

I stick to ibuprofen for most injuries because it inhibits the body's production of inflammatory chemicals (prostaglandins), so instead of merely reducing pain, it actually helps block the problem at the source.

The rule with ice/heat is, ice for first 24 to 48 hrs to minimize inflammation, then heat to promote healing after that. You want to slow down circulation when the body first responds to the injury, so it doesn't overreact, and speed up circulation when healing has begun. ("Active recovery" and massage can help for the same reason. You want to halt activity at first, and then ease back into it later.)

Anecdotally I can tell you that icing an injury within the hour, and reapplying ice a few hours later, has greatly reduced both the pain and the severity of injuries for me (they hurt less, swell less, and heal faster). I have actually gotten a broken toe recovered in a couple weeks this way. I generally heal fast enough that I don't bother much with heat days later, but it can ease a tight muscle.

Same with ibuprofen, the faster you take it the better it works. But everyone responds to medicine differently.

[CalvinHobbes]

Ibuprofen is an NSAID (non steroidal anti inflammatory drug), so it decreases swelling frequently associated with muscles. Same with Aleve.

If taking acetaminophen containing products monitor how much you take daily. Never ever take more than 650 mg at a time and never more than 4000 mg in a day (some suggest never more than 3000 mg) because of liver toxicities.

Heat or ice...see whatever feels better honestly.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I agree with what's been posted here. Ibuprofen has anti-imflammatory properties in addition to being an NSAID, and Cline's heat before ice after post is in line with everything I ever learned when I was a student trainer in High School.

[Kishi]

I'm on the ibuprofen train, myself. Combine that with ice - either as a bath, as a shower, or as a compress - and you have a very effective pain-reliever/anti-inflammatory.

 

At least, in my own limited experience.

[Oogiem]

Update, ibuprofen isn't touching the pain at all, no tylenol in the house, aspirin keeps me mostly vertical. Worst is now both hubby & I are REALLY sick with a horrible cough, so bad I felt and heard my muscles in back and side and arm go ping during one particularly bad coughing spasm so now really crippled up. I can feel them twitching and spasming but can't seem to get them to stop no matter whether heat or ice. Had to text msg a neighbor (can't talk at all) to come help feed sheep as unable to lift or drag hay bales. Thank goodness for small towns where you can actually send a msg and have help arrive immediately! one hurting puppy right now :sigh:

[CalvinHobbes]

Sorry to hear you're so sore Oogiem! I'd suggest seeing a doctor for the spasms. You might need something else.

[Raincloak]

Maybe massage would help?

[Terinatum]

The only thing I would add is try using moist heat as oppose to dry. The moisture gets the heat deeper into your body (hence how a bath or shower really warms your muscles). If you don't want to buy a moist heating pad, you can dampen a hand towel, wrap it in a dry one and put in the microwave. I'm guessing with times so be careful, but I'd say start at 2 minutes and adjust as you need to. Good luck.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Hey Oogiem, feeling any better?

[Soapdish]

I've avoided taking acetaminophen for years (because I loves me some gin martinis and bourbon but booze and acetaminophen DEFINITELY don't mix) but I've seriously cut back on my alcohol consumption in an effort to drop weight.  My back freaks out about every other month, makes me totally crooked for about a week and in the past ibuprofen hasn't done much to help.  So being partially on the wagon, last week when it freaked out I decided to take acetaminophen for the pain.  Now, I don't know if it's the acetaminophen, the yoga I've been doing to increase my flexibility, the weight I've dropped, that overall I'm just more fit, or maybe some combo of them all, but damn if the pain and my crookedness didn't go away after a couple of hours.  An anecdote to be sure but I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

I'm not wrangling any sheep, tho.

[re-animator]

Hmmm my little sis messed up her back and neck a while too. turns out she had some underlying muscle probelms with her back; so if your back keeps bugging you go see someone about it.

As for what to use, she uses ibuprophen and a heating pad and if it gets really, really bad 292s help too.