Prolo News – NSAIDs overuse contributes to osteoarthritis
Anti-inflammatories may be damaging your joints
The cover story of the most recent issue of the Journal of Prolotherapy features the connection between ligaments, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (known as NSAIDs), and degenerative osteoarthritis.
Common NSAIDs include Aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve), and Celebrex. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is not included in this group of drugs because it is a pain killer but not an anti-inflammatory.
NSAIDs are some of the most commonly used medications. About 20-30% of elderly people regularly use NSAIDs for conditions including osteoarthritis. However, long-term use of NSAIDs has many negative side effects including liver toxicity, stomach and gastrointestinal damage, cardiovascular disease, and even death.
The irony is that NSAIDs actually accelerate the arthritis that they are being used for. They stop the body’s ability to stimulate the building blocks for cartilage in the joints. This causes the breakdown of joints and the progression of osteoarthritis in your hips and knees, thus increasing the need for more joint replacement surgeries.
Instead of using NSAIDs on a long-term basis to mask the symptoms of joint disease, consider eating a healthier diet free from trans fats, adopting moderate exercise, and using prolotherapy to stimulate joint repair and tissue growth.
Our society is conditioned to the fact that there is a pill for every condition that may ail you, real or imagined. People need to be aware of the side effects of both prescription and non-prescription drugs. Some of these are dangerous and long term. Doing some research into more natural remedies is something people should be taking a serious look at.
That’s a great point. Pharmaceuticals can be very useful and short term usage can speed healing. However, when it comes to chronic conditions like osteoarthritis, we have to change our attitudes about using drugs because the side-effects add up over time. If you are taking multiple pills on a daily basis for months or even years, you may be slowly damaging your body without even knowing it. Look into choosing natural alternatives with fewer side-effects and consider therapies such as prolotherapy that treat the cause of the problem instead of just masking the symptoms.
I don’t know if I completely agree. However, you do have a decent argument. Maybe I can blog a post against your arguments.
Please do. We are looking for the best ways to keep people healthy. Let me know where I can read your blog and we can get some discussion going. As I’m sure you are aware, golfers are notorious for being hard on their joints (back, shoulder, elbows, hips, knees, etc.) and many of their chronic ligament and tendon injuries respond extremely well to prolotherapy.