View From The Treatment Room at Hednesford Town FC

 Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID`s) have been used by several Boldmere St. Michaels players. When they were injured I encouraged them to use them after a visit to their doctor’s and through a prescription. They have two main uses. They are pain killers and they reduce inflammation. Examples are Aspirin, Ibuprofen and Voltarol. You do not have to be an athlete to benefit from them. No doubt some of us will be using them when we venture out into the garden in spring for the first time trying to cut the grass and weed all at once and feel the strains and pains. I find that they work well for deep groin strains near to the front of the pelvic/pubic bone.

Used as single doses these drugs have a similar analgesic effect to paracetamol.  Paracetamol actually does work quickly in the short term. However in the longer term for the chronic injury the use of NSAID`s are the better option as they produce a longer lasting analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect. That helps to reduce the pain and more importantly the rehabilitation time from injury which every sports athlete appreciates. As an added bonus they are not addictive. 

There is considerable variation between people tolerance and response to different NSAID`s. It may take some time to establish the best one for the individual. The benefits may take anything up to a week to take effect. If there is no improvement by 2 to 3 weeks a different NSAID`s should be tried. It is however sometimes difficult to find an athlete or their coach willing to wait that long. Patience is the key with any injury.

You can get nausea from some NSAID`s types. I would not recommend anyone taking them like `sweets` which some athletes do to as a preventive measure. I always check the injury records that I maintain of the Boldmere players to see who is Asthmatic as I would encourage them to speak to their Doctor and look for other alternatives. Of course this also applies to anyone if they also have a stomach or kidney problems.

NSAID`s are also available without prescription in a product called `Movelat` which you can get in a gel and cream form. I find them of value when massaging in bony areas such as ankle joints when the injury is close to the skin surface. Where the damage is in deep muscles they are of lesser value because penetration is limited so the tablets ingested are better.

It is widely used after surgery which is a great help   Being free of pain means you feel comfortable after the operation. Your body has the time to gets stronger faster and therefore you heal quickly.