Ibuprofen

[Meg]

Had a lot of top of spine and shoulder pain for a week. Went to the doctor, he gave me Movelat gel and Ibuprofen. Used them for 5 days then felt back to normal and stopped using them yesterday. Now the pain is back as bad as before. Question is how long do you carry on with the treatment after the pain has subsided?

[237SJ]

How long did the Doctor tell you to use them for?

[Mamyalynne]

Hi Meg, ideally unless advised otherwise only take pain relief when you are actually in pain.

If the current regime isn't helping after a few weeks then return to see if perhaps anything else might be recommended.

[bhg481]

Both products are painkillers, not cures, so the problem didn't go away, they simply removed the pain associated with it. I suspect your doctor thinks that time will cure the problem and the medication will reduce the pain in the meantime.

[237SJ]

The products are anti inflammatories though, and the pain can be caused by the inflammation which is why you need to hit it with those drugs. It's not a simple as taking pain relief because if that was the case then something like paracetamol would be prescibed.

[Meg]

Thanks for the replies. The doctor just said the pain would go eventually and gave me a months supply of tablets and gel. I'll carry on taking them for longer.

[ummmm]

Do you know the cause of the pain?

[Sqad]

I agree with the post of mamya.........take them when the pain presents.........you can do this for the rest of your life.

[AuntLydia]

Using Anti Inflammatories without knowing the root cause of pain is like putting a plaster on a broken leg. You must go back to your GP and insist on further tests. Typical NHS, and my GP admitted this to me they start with the cheapest treatment and work there way up. Using pain killers without knowing the root cause has the potential to make your condition worse, pain is there for a reason!.

[Sqad]

A.L

I agree with your post, but the GP will have some idea of the cause ?musculo-skeletal siting the pain as the "top of the spine and shoulder" and only of a week's duration.
Clearly, if the diagnosis is in doubt, recurrent pain, then investigations would be warranted.........but not at this early stage in my opinion.

[AuntLydia]

Hi Sqad, agree, I'd missed the fact it had only been a week.

[Sqad]

AL.......no problem.....I often miss salient features in the history of the O.P.....but i have been trained to use bull$hit to talk myself out of trouble....;-)

[rowanwitch]

Once a surgeon always a surgeon