When is it okay or not okay to reduce your pain with NSAIDs if you are in the process of recovering from a running overtraining injury? That is a great question, and that is what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
Today I was on a call with an injured runner who is trying to figure out how soon she can start running. She had been having pain and she was getting relief by taking over-the-counter medication. She asked me whether not taking NSAIDs was good, or bad.
Whenever we have pain, we can simply take a pill, and the pain will go away. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs are powerful readily available painkillers. They don’t just get rid of inflammation, they also control or reduce pain.
So, when is it okay, or not okay, to reduce your pain with NSAIDs if you are in the process of recovering from a running over training injury?
You have to keep in mind that my answer to her was specific for her in her stage of recovery. And I was trying to make it simple.
What I said was:
No NSAID in subtle stages of recovery.
Yes, NSAIDs when strong, stable and you hit a plateau.
What do I mean by that?
Whenever a runner calls me with an injury their main concern is to figure out whether not they can run. You cannot run or start adding other running fitness rebuilding exercises until you know the severity of your injury.
To understand the severity of your injury the most useful tool at your disposal is your pain level. You need to track it. And you need to track it diligently. If you’re taking NSAIDs, you can never track your pain accurately.
So, in those early subtle stages of recovery when you’re trying to really determine the severity of the injury you should never take anti-inflammatories because you’re depriving yourself of valuable information.
But once you get stronger, when the tissue is healing and the tissue recovery is moving in the right direction, then I think it’s much safer for you to take NSAIDs because you’re not as focused on the actual pain level at any given time. That of course changes if you’ve had a re-injury and you think you are experiencing a setback.
Just last week I was lecturing at the International Foot and Ankle Foundation medical conference in Hawaii. I was given three lectures on running injuries. One of the things I told physician in that audience was that I believe with injured runners, pain is the most abundant and most underutilized diagnostic resource available to both the runner and the physician trying to help the runner.
Don’t bury that resource under an over-the-counter pain reliever!
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