There is no great way to answer a question when you get asked about PAIN or PAIN KILLERS of any kind. Everyone knows that I am not a Doctor and dealing with pain and knowing what, if any, medications that you should take means that you need to and see someone smarter than you. Someone that knows your medical history, knows medicines, and understands that kind of pain that you are in.
THIS IS A DIFFERENT SITUATION!
I get asked if it is OK to take Pain Killers before training and if it kills your gains! Probably a huge point to consider is that the person who asked me this is from Europe where they consider things like Ibuprofen and Tylenol a "Pain Killer" where in The USA we call them anti-inflammatory drugs. When in The USA if we mention a Pain Killer we are talking about a serious drug where even if there is pain, YOU WON'T FEEL IT! Things like morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, etc... Stuff that you don't need to be messing around with and if you are taking them you probably are not going to be training anyway! If you are doing this type of stupidity...STOP RIGHT NOW!
I can tell the story of a friend of mine that I met when I first began Strongman. He was injured and his physician had given him some strong Pain Killers to take when he had pain. I saw him drive to the gym and he could barely open his eyes, much less train. He sat on the bench and washed his narcotic pain killers down with a huge cup of coffee. Thirty Minutes later he was doing high rep rack pulls with over 800 lbs. I ate lunch with him that afternoon. That night he passed away in his sleep. It ain't something to screw around with.
But if we are talking about the occasional Ibuprofen, it is important to note what you are taking, why you are taking it, and if you really need to be taking it. On top of that, how much of your gains is it really killing...
Just my opinion here guys!