Often an anti-inflammatory is used. These are aspirin-like medicines that both decrease inflammation and relieve pain. All medicines have side effects and the most common side effect of anti-inflammatories is irritation to the stomach. Because they decrease platelet function, they can also slightly increase the time it takes to stop bleeding if cut. Most of them are best taken with food on the stomach. Not all patients have the same response to anti-inflamatory drugs. There are now a new class of anti-inflammatories called Cox-2 inhibitors which have fewer stomach and bleeding side effects. Some of the newer medications can be quite expensive.

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