An aspirin a day…. can actually do some serious damage to your body!

Many of our patients suffer from debilitating headaches, and swear that “it’s no big deal, I will just take a Motrin and it will all be better”.  Unfortunately, that may not be the case.  

Anti-inflammatories (Motrin, Advil, Aleve, Ibuprofen, Naprosyn), when taken for extended periods of time can actually cause quite a bit of damage to the body.  Some of the problems that can arise include bleeding ulcers, high blood pressure, kidney problems, and liver problems.

Below is an excerpt published by Dr. Andrew Paul Siskind, MD, of Orange County, California, describing a couple of emergencies he experienced within his practice:

“Mr. Smith was a 48 year old CEO of a big company. He had a bad knee, needed surgery, but was too busy. So he took Aleve, two tablets a day, for about 18 months, which is when I met him. Mr. Smith was vomiting blood in buckets. Those little Aleve tablets had burned a hole in his stomach and caused a bleeding ulcer. I did revive him after he had a full cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, his blood pressure went low during the resuscitation and he had a stroke to his spine. Mr. Smith is paralyzed from his waist down and will never walk again. He is fine from the waist up.

Mr M. was my Father In Law. My wife’s whole family was visiting a few years ago. I noticed Mr M was going up the stairs more slowly every day. I finally asked him if anything was wrong and he said that he had a little cold but that he was ok. After I watched him taking about 30 seconds to go up each step I decided to send him to the emergency room. Upon interviewing and examining him there, the problem was obvious. He had lost about 1/2 of his blood volume. We did an upper endoscopy and he had 4 ulcers, one actively bleeding. We cauterized it and transfused 3 units of blood. He fully recovered. What I learned in the emergency room was that he was taking advil cold and sinus for 1 week-that’s right! For just one week. That is what caused his bleeding ulcer.”

The good news is that we may be able to help you without the use of potentially dangerous medications.  By relaxing the muscles of the head and neck, we can optimally position your lower jaw, effectively eliminating the pain associated with the muscle tension.

If you are suffering from tension headaches or migraines, back pains, muscle aches, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems, or other types of facial pain, call us for a complimentary consultation – we can help!

Dr. Siskind is a board certified physician in private practice in Irvine, CA.  You can read about him on his website.

blog comments powered by Disqus