Before the big race, before the big game, many high school athletes nonchalantly pop a few ibuprofen or aspirin to ease pain or prevent pain onset.
These two pills, both non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are capable of alleviating many types of pain in the body. However, the misuse of these drugs among athletes for casual purposes, has become an epidemic at BV.
According to Time magazine, about $103 million in aspirin is consumed each year by Americans.
Too much of either of these drugs can put athletes at risk for health issues, both temporary and long-term. They thin blood and tamper with the body’s healing process as well, according to MayoClinic.com.
An anti-inflammatory drug is used to reduce pain and swelling in the body when there is some sort of minor injury.
“Your body has a natural response to injury,” athletic trainer Roberta Kuechler said. “Inflammation is part of that. It is good Before the big race, before the big game, many high school athletes nonchalantly pop a few ibuprofen or aspirin to ease pain or prevent pain onset.
These two pills, both non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are capable of alleviating many types of pain in the body. However, the misuse of these drugs among athletes for casual purposes, has become an epidemic at BV.
According to Time magazine, about $103 million in aspirin is consumed each year by Americans.
Too much of either of these drugs can put athletes at risk for health issues, both temporary and long-term. They thin blood and tamper with the body’s healing process as well, according to MayoClinic.com.
An anti-inflammatory drug is used to reduce pain and swelling in the body when there is some sort of minor injury.
“Your body has a natural response to injury,” athletic trainer Roberta Kuechler said. “Inflammation is part of that. It is goodBefore the big race, before the big game, many high school athletes nonchalantly pop a few ibuprofen or aspirin to ease pain or prevent pain onset.
These two pills, both non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, are capable of alleviating many types of pain in the body. However, the misuse of these drugs among athletes for casual purposes, has become an epidemic at BV.
According to Time magazine, about $103 million in aspirin is consumed each year by Americans.
Too much of either of these drugs can put athletes at risk for health issues, both temporary and long-term. They thin blood and tamper with the body’s healing process as well, according to MayoClinic.com.
An anti-inflammatory drug is used to reduce pain and swelling in the body when there is some sort of minor injury.
“Your body has a natural response to injury,” athletic trainer Roberta Kuechler said. “Inflammation is part of that. It is goodand necessary and a large part of the healing process. Taking an anti-inflamma- tory too much is actually pre- venting some of the good stuff and eliminating a necessary step in healing correctly.”
Junior Kacy Neinstedt takes four aspirin each day before cross country prac- tice to lessen any potential pain.
“I have a lot of joint issues and knee issues from dieting,” she said. “When I take aspirin that all goes away.”
Kuechler said excessive use of any over- the-counter (OTC) drug is dangerous, and ibuprofen and aspirin are no exception.
MayoClinic said both may have short- term side effects such as vomiting and nausea, but can also have more serious, long-term effects such as ulcers and gastro- intestinal problems.
Ibuprofen has also been known to impair kidney function.
Ibuprofen and aspirin are also anti- platelet drugs, also known as blood thinners.
This causes a decrease in blood clotting and puts athletes at risk for excessive or internal Kuechler said it is possible that the increased use of anti-inflammatory OTC drugs is a result of the standards of everyday living set by society.
“In my opinion, our culture is leaning so heavily on pain-free living,” she said. “You have anything wrong with you and people run to the doctor or the medicine cabinet to make it go away.”
Kuechler said the problem may be that student athletes are largely uninformed of the dangers, side effects and risks of the drugs.
“Our society thinks it’s pretty normal,” Neinstedt said. “It stops pain and that’s all I really know about it.”
The body of knowledge about these drugs is ever-growing and increasing. Many concerns have been fairly recent discoveries, though anti-inflammatory drugs have been around a long time. “We know a lot more than we did ten years ago,” Kuechler said. “But who knows? Ten years from now we could find out that it has a terrible effect and you’re stuck with that. You have one body and you have to take care of it.”
Kuechler said it is possible that the in- creased use of anti-inflammatory OTC drugs is a result of the standards of everyday living set by society.
“In my opinion, our culture is leaning so heavily on pain-free living,” she said. “You have anything wrong with you and people run to the doctor or the medicine cabinet to make it go away.”
Kuechler said the problem may be that student athletes are largely uninformed of the dangers, side effects and risks of the drugs.
“Our society thinks it’s pretty normal,” Neinstedt said. “It stops pain and that’s all I really know about it.”
The body of knowledge about these drugs is ever-growing and increasing. Many concerns have been fairly recent discoveries, though anti-inflammatory drugs have been around a long time. “We know a lot more than we did ten years ago,” Kuechler said. “But who knows? Ten years from now we could find out that it has a terrible effect and you’re stuck with that. You have one body and you have to take care of it.”