Our bodies are amazing things! Inside all of us, many processes take place automatically. When you injure yourself, or get injured, your body makes a hormone called prostaglandin. When tissue is injured, your body starts a process to isolate the injured area by causing the area to swell through prostaglandin production. This hormone response causes swelling, inflammation and pain.

If you take an anti-inflammatory medicine just prior to or just after an injury, the amount of pain, swelling and inflammation will be markedly less. That’s why I always suggest that my patients take an anti-inflammatory just before or after I do an involved procedure like a root canal. Good options include aspirin, Advil, Nuprin or Aleve. Taking an anti-inflammatory for a couple of days reduces any pain, swelling or inflammation, and has worked very well for my patients over many years.