Author Topic: Painkillers in sport  (Read 5932 times)

frankly frankie

  • I kid you not
    • Fuchsiaphile
Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #25 on: 06 June, 2017, 01:38:55 pm »
Several people interviewed to say they take a couple of ibuprofen before a long run or ride as a matter of habit rather than necessity.

Not for nothing is it known in some circles as bike candy.
when you're dead you're done, so let the good times roll

barakta

  • Bastard lovechild of Yomiko Readman and Johnny 5
Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #26 on: 06 June, 2017, 04:08:08 pm »
Nobody's handing out medals for gallantry and I don't do suffering as part of my religion.

If I am troubled by pain when doing little or my normal activities, I take painkillers and am happier and more useful as a result.

That is their purpose.

*APPLAUSE*

Managing pain should not be something people feel ashamed of, but it is something people are often shamed for. I agree that if someone is taking pain medication frequently or for more than a few days and do not know what the reason is, then medical advice may be a good idea but otherwise people should be able to just get on with it.

And on that note I'm off to reboot the hot water bottle and chug a load more sodding codeine for the sodding uterus.

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #27 on: 06 June, 2017, 04:19:49 pm »
Nobody's handing out medals for gallantry and I don't do suffering as part of my religion.

If I am troubled by pain when doing little or my normal activities, I take painkillers and am happier and more useful as a result.

That is their purpose.
True, but: The dilemma comes when your "normal life" includes occasional quite hard endurance exercise. These can be great for the soul and the heart/lungs, but sometimes riders joints etc will not play ball.

So the "gallantry" is often just a normal person trying to do something extremely satisfying with negligible pain instead of pain levels that stop it being fun.

(I've only finished 1 long ride with any proper pain in 11 years, so haven't properly faced this dilemma ... )
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Samuel D

Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #28 on: 06 June, 2017, 05:04:14 pm »
I don’t think “proper pain” should be ridden through. That sounds like something that might do much more damage than ibuprofen.

(This may be why I’m not cut out for audax, despite occasionally finding the idea attractive. The physical sensation of pain I can handle as well as most (though doubtless worse than many here). However, the knowledge that the pain exists because physical harm is happening is psychologically difficult for me. It follows that I rarely take painkillers.)

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #29 on: 06 June, 2017, 05:50:08 pm »
I NEVER had real pain Audaxing.

I got achy and took ibuprofen.

Achilles tendinitis was unpleasant. I took ibuprofen (or maybe diclofenac/Voltarol) for that too.

In general, I take painkillers early if I am unhappy but as I am lucky enough to have little pain this seldom adds up to much.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #30 on: 06 June, 2017, 06:16:10 pm »
Achilles tendinitis was unpleasant.

You're not wrong there. I had that a few years ago and although it did heal eventually, I think there must be some permanent damage because it does flare up occasionally, usually if I've been overdoing it on the hills. I take it as a sign to back off, but I've also been known to break out the Solpadeine for it.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #31 on: 06 June, 2017, 07:36:59 pm »
Maybe I shouldn't be commenting. Apart from kidney stones (which had me curled up in a ball and whimpering), I'm not sure I've had real pain from physical injury (almost think there is something wrong with my nervous system; I've had serious injuries, but they didn't hurt).

I deeply seriously think that people should not take painkillers to push through the pain from injuries. Maybe that belief comes from not feeling much pain from injuries.

The difference between a safe dose of paracetamol and a dangerously high dose is small. It is very easy to take a maximum safe dose with tablets, swig down, say, Lemsip and be on the very edge of a liver-damaging overdose.

Aspirin, which I rely on to stave off vestibular migraines, can cause dangerous bleeding from injuries.

Ibuprofen has its own problems, as have been described.

Taken occasionally, fine. Taken as anti-inflammatories to promote healing, fine. But taken as a regular thing to help push through injury, I don't think is ok.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #32 on: 06 June, 2017, 07:49:09 pm »
real pain.
Serious pain.
achey.

These are all so subjective - it's a painfully difficult discussion to have online! Anyway ...

[anecdote]
LEL '09 was my only long ride with any (to me!) real pain. It was intermittent. I knew what was causing it, and it only came on more than 2/3rd through. So I assessed on a control-to-control basis. (this is no tale of heroism - it really was no big deal, except that I'm a massive wimp!)

A massive stroke of luck that week was chatting to some newbies who were bloody stroking round the whole thing - one happened to be a Pain Management Specialist Nurse! He had a briefcase of the right stuff, and could advise EXACTLY what was safe. Needless to say it was ALL normal, over-the-counter, vanilla pills. No horse tranquiliser!

[/anecdote]

Nevertheless, I do value my health over audax points. I just acknowledge that there are more grey areas than black/white ones. If you are going to have fun, challenge yourself, have adventures! etc, then sometimes there are compromises. Hopefully the more adventures we have, the wiser we get, and the more data we have available to inform our decisions.

Just be careful out there kids :)
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

rob

Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #33 on: 07 June, 2017, 02:54:17 pm »
There's a level of subjectivity here.   if you regularly push your body beyond what a normal person would something is going to hurt.   The skill is in knowing what's a normal ache for the 3rd day on a bike or what is the pain of an injury or potential injury.   Personally, I now have a feel for what I can get through - maybe with a little help - and what requires me to stop and rest.

I use Ibuprofen tablets now and again (recovery and back pain) and voltarol gel for joints and tendons.

Re: Painkillers in sport
« Reply #34 on: 08 June, 2017, 09:21:07 am »
There is a lot of difference between taking pain killers to IMPROVE performance, and having to take them in order to allow what would be seen as normal exercise for that person.

Ultimately it's a balance between risk and benefit. In my case, without pain killers I would have to stop cycling in any meaningful way. My view ( and my doctor's) is that the benefits of continuing to cycle meaningfully ( training rather than just riding) outweigh the risks of my painkiller regime.

My experience is that learning about the pharmaceutical products, beyond the normal levels, pays off. Time taken to reach effective pain relief for instance. Also the side effects, NSAIDs certainly affect my breathing at high efforts, but some are better than others. Also, taking NSAIDS means also taking a drug to prevent damage to the stomach lining. This , and the NSAIDs , can affect Magnesium absorption - not typically well known. I use a transdermal Magnesium oil.