Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID). It will reduce inflammation and the associated pain. If your pain is not caused by inflammation then you should talk to a pharmacist about what the best analgesic is for you.

There are several families of painmeds some more harmless than others. Anecdotally I know people that only seem to get relief from ibuprofen, and others that swear only paracetamol (Tylenol) helps, while again others sweat to asperin. Like the other person said.. talk to a pharmacist about options, and see if others work for you.

Some like paracetamol can me taken over the course of a day for multiple days for example post operation.. and they build a level that causes them to work even stronger. But paracetamol can cause lover damage if taken too much.

Like with all drugs, read the darn pamphlet. Opiates are not your friend and should only be taken very sparingly under proper supervision, if at all.. sure they dull pain but are highly addictive.

Source, not a medical professional, so take what I wrote with a grain of salt and consult a professional.

Tbh I usually take 600 mg instead of the 400mg. That usually gets it going for me

Try taking it with a dose of acetaminophen. Those two have a synergistic effect that is better than either alone and is often used post surgery for that reason.

It helps marginally better than placebo for me. Hence why Americans use it for fairly trivial aches and pains.

I can't imagine it would do anything for pain I'd consider 'serious'.

Also at least in my country I can call in sick if I have a headache, will be paid for the day and there is no number of paid-time-off-days, which will be subtracted by one when I do so. The employer continues to pay up to 6 weeks of salary if you need to stay at home due to sickness, and for a period longer than 3 days you need a dr to confirm you're sick. The number of sick days per year depend on you actually being sick - I was baffled when I learned this is a fixed number in the US (at least for some) . I guess the motivation to work sick when you have a limited number of paid sick days also contributes to the usage of pain killers.

This is my mother for the last year or so because of rotoscoliosis, a bulging disc, and arthritis in her shoulders.

She can't really get any form of treatment because the only insurance she can afford is a high-deductable plan, which means she would have to pretty much pay for the entire treatment out of pocket.

But they'll only recommend the surgery after trying muscle relaxers ten times over the course of a year.