Quad Strain: Alleve or Advil?

Hey all,

For a quad strain, which is more effective at reducing inflammation: Naproxen (Alleve) or Ibuprofin (Advil)? Anybody have an opinion? I'm taking Ibuprofen, but not getting much relief. (Maybe I'm not taking enough; I've been taking about 800 mg per day.)

I like Ibuprofen to help out with swelling. Do you have any discoloration in the area that is sore?
Keep icing the area for the first 48 hours to help reduce the swelling along with meds.

Hey there. Nope, no visible swelling. I was doing HIIT on the eliptical trainer a little too often. (I don't think I allowed enough recovery time between sessions.) I can flex it with mild pain but it still bothers me all day long. (Mild pain, but very persistent.) Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!

THere is some doubt as to whether they should be taken during injury, not for pain relief purposes, but because research has shown that Ibuprofen interferes with muscle protein synthesis.

Early research showed that post workout use of these drugs inhibited our natural production of a chemical necessary for muscle growth and repair (Trappe et al., 2001). Further investigation showed that sure enough, muscle protein synthesis was completely shut down when these drugs were combined with strength training (Trappe et al., 2002). As a final kick in the teeth, using these drugs resulted in no effect on either inflammation (Peterson et al., 2003), or muscle soreness (Trappe et al., 2002). quote taken from mr david barr's anabolic index...in short, if ur concerned with muscle mass, try to avoid NSAIDS

... that and getting overly sore / distressed in the first place.

Your post has further strengthened the need to use a product like Killer QC post workout!

Wow--that's really eye opening stuff. It makes sense though. I'm icing like crazy and rolling my quad on top of one of those white foam rollers, (poor man's facia release) and it seems to be helping. I just don't want this thing to progress to something more serious, ya know? (Which always happens to me now that I'm 'over 40,' if I ignore the little warning signs.) Seems like I flirt with injury whenever I push myself. It almost has to be age related, because I literally never had an injury until I turned 40, and I've always been a gyrm rat. Now I'm always nursing something. Getting old sucks.

Yup I hear you there, getting older sucks when it comes too the gym. Hit 40 and it seemed my body said F... you!! I'm finding that working each body part only once a week is paying dividends. I either do more exercises per body part with higher intensity only once per week or less exercises per body part twice a week with one session high and one low intensity session.
I'm learning the hard way to start listening to my body. Like everybody out there I have read allot of different books over the years from all the experts out there, but in the end you have to find what works for you. I have better results from blending my routines, I never take a complete workout from a book and follow it, I'll only add a portion to my existing routine.

All great answers "an ounce of prevention is equal to a lb of cure" but you will still need me ;-)

Yup I have been seeing physio for the last three years and it has made a huge difference. It does pay to look around could you suggest some things to look for or qualifications when it comes to a physiotherapist? In conversation with my physiotherapist there are many in there profession that have there hands tied by workers compensation and time restrictions.