Back pain and neck pain are often treated conventionally using NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) medications. However, with the recent evidence of serious cardiovascular risks caused by commonly prescribed NSAID drugs like Vioxx and Bextra (which have been pulled from the shelves), many physicians are not as quick to prescribe Celebrex or even over the counter drugs anymore. Long time known concerns over other effects like gastric ulcers and bleeding also caution the use of NSAID medications.
A study published in April in the prestigious medical journal, Surgical Neurology, shows a safer, more widely known alternative can provide relief to patients with back pain and neck pain. Researchers studied the effect of fish oil (which contains omega-3 fatty acids that have proven anti-inflammatory effects) in patients with nonsurgical neck or back pain. Two-hundred and fifty patients at a neurosurgery office were asked to take 1200 mg daily of combined essential fatty acids in the form of fish oil. After an average of 75 days on fish oil, 125 patients (22% of which had increased their dose to 2400 mg per day) returned a questionnaire and the results showed that 60% had improved joint pain and overall pain. Importantly, no adverse effects were reported.
The authors stated that the effect of fish oil was comparable to ibuprofen without the adverse effects, and concluded fish oil is a safer treatment for neck and back pain than NSAID medications.
Posted by Dr. Jennifer Stagg on July 30, 2006 07:58 AM
