Lifting when taking an anti-inflamtory

[lilbg]

Hurt my wrist a while back and its taking a while to heal up.. I quit working out and it feels better but not 100%.  I was told to get on an anti-inflamatory which I still have some stuff the doc gave me a while back.  Will it be ok to lift when taking this?  Where there be any negative side effects?

[runnerbabe]

The worst thing about doing any repetitive exercise when taking an anti-inflammatory is that you feel better/okay and you might hurt yourself more without realizing it.

For instance, folks who have leg pain and take ibuprofen then go out and run long distances lose the perveption/benefit of knowing if their body is weakening and can make it worse after that fact.


I am not sure what the exact injury was and what your comment about not being 100% really means in terms of pain or healing and also how long it took you to get to this "better" point... without that and not having a medical degree---LOL--- it is hard to suggest an alternative.  Does wrapping it help you? Can you lift any/lighter weights and begin the strengthening process again? Have you done any wrist exercises to improve flexibility there?

If not, I for one would take the antiinflammatory as you need to ---if it hurts ---then wait a bit to start up lifting-- so you don't undo all the good that the time off resting it has accomplished  and make the injury a chronic one---

Yoo many runners go on that path for sure---

Good luck

[lilbg]

I am using much lighter weight and im starting back after about 3 months off.  I cant seem to do barbell presses right as its uncomfortable to my wrists.  I can do dumbell work with out any issues at all.  Ive never done a lot of dumbell work so its going to be intresting as to how I respond.  Im currently only getting up to about 35-40lb dumbells for a press/fly superset of flat, incline, and decline until I feel comfortable doing something else.  Im also using gloves with wrist wraps.  I plan on taking it real easy for atleast the first 4 to 6 weeks of me starting back.  Guess I can always kill my weak legs.

[pumpster]

Having had injuries and taken anti-inflamatories that worked, I can tell you that:

-As someone mentioned, you should first heal up while taking them, then ease back in to the problem exercises. The last resort if they don't work is cortisone, which if used sparingly is incredibly effective.

-The pain was a warning that you're doing things the body doesn't agree with, repetitive use trauma that will likely return eventually. Therefore:

-Warm up well
-Do another exercise for the muscle first, to warm up the area further.
-Keep the reps at 10-15, no lower
-Often the problems are barbell related-bench press, curls, military presses-go instead with dumbbells and avoid barbells altogether. Once you're used to dumbbells you realize that they're in fact better re: development and allow natural motions that doesn't aggrevate joints and wrists.

[lilbg]

Thanks for all the info.. ill stay on these dumbells and see how things develope.  Nothing worse then an injury to screw with your motivation!

[Bear03]

The worst thing about doing any repetitive exercise when taking an anti-inflammatory is that you feel better/okay and you might hurt yourself more without realizing it.

For instance, folks who have leg pain and take ibuprofen then go out and run long distances lose the perveption/benefit of knowing if their body is weakening and can make it worse after that fact.

very true....that's why i've been doing it 

generally it's a pretty shortsighted thing to do, and pretty stubborn.  the better thing to do would be to pick less damaging exercises, or to stretch the muscles so as not to strain the joint.