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There are several effective anti-inflammatory drug treatments available today, NSAIDs and Capsaicin being the most popular. Before taking either, you should be aware of certain NSAIDs and Capsaicin side effects. This way, you can know the possible risks and benefits.
Below is some information on what to expect in terms of NSAIDs and Capsaicin side effects, and those of other well-known anti-inflammatory treatments.
If you want to reduce inflammation, you can use non-specific treatments, which reduce inflammation from all sources. NSAIDs are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which work to reduce inflammation.
Anti-inflammatory drugs first entered the market probably 30 years ago. During this time, we found that, in fact, they’re a real two-edged sword. While they may be effective in treating inflammation, they pose the risk of side effects.
The old NSAIDs, especially, can increase the incidence of:
So there are a whole raft of potential NSAIDs side effects, although the drugs are moderately effective. And some of them are quite effective at reducing inflammation from any cause.
Capsaicin is another commonly-used treatment, which doesn’t have any of the big side effects of other anti-inflammatory drugs.
But this treatment does have its own side effect, which is that it burns. Capsaicin is locally irritating, but doesn’t have a lot of other issues.
Further, as with everything, it has incredibly variable effectiveness. You keep rubbing this stuff on and you have to wait four to six weeks before anything happens.
If you can tolerate it, it either works or it doesn’t. So depending on if it works, at the end of the day, you think, “Was that worth all the effort?” or, “Oh my God, it’s brilliant.” It’s quite unpredictable, though it can be a great treatment for local inflammation.
Clonidine, another viable option for treatment, blocks the effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the body, reducing the overreaction of your autonomic system. It helps blood flow into an area and works to reduce the neurogenic inflammation there.
One possible side effect is that it may drop your blood pressure, though it doesn’t pose a lot of other major side effects unless you’re using it as a patch.
The patch offers a very slow, regular production of the substances. However, one major problem with the patch is that you can react to it. Your skin becomes itchy, then it gets blistered, and then you just can’t use it.
This is a side effect which is quite limiting because there are no creams or anything that you can use to reduce that inflammation, so you keep moving the patch around.
If you can tolerate it and it works, it can be absolutely amazing. Probably 10 to 15 percent of people will react to the patch and its effect is mainly local. So you’re treating a local area of inflammation.
Statins have a whole raft of their own problems, which greatly differ from NSAIDs or Capsaicin side effects. One of the problems with statins is that, in their own right, they may cause significant chronic muscle pain.
Statins are the substances used to lower cholesterol, but can lead all the way through to this awful condition where your muscles almost liquefy. This life-transforming condition is called rhabdomyolysis and occurs in about 1 in some 100,000 people.
So statins, although they reduce neurogenic inflammation, may cause muscle damage and chronic muscle pain.
NSAIDs and Capsaicin side effects are quite real, and something to be heavily considered.
As with everything, it’s always important that you look at any medication and say, “Well, how much does it give me? How much does it take away from me? What’s the balance?” To me, it needs to be giving heaps more than it takes away for you to continue using it.