# Ibuprofen 32 Hacker News commenters recommended Ibuprofen and 23 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Recommended for inflammation pain, migraines and muscle pain, often better than acetaminophen. Main caveat: stomach upset and GI bleeding, plus kidney risk with regular use. ## Why people recommend it - Strong, noticeable pain relief (6 comments): "I've found great relief at times taking a moderately large dose of ibuprofen for several days" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47859989)) "I am taking it so that the pain stops and I can function normally." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47864913)) "When I took ibuprofen it did actually made an actual real change." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47860385)) - Helps inflammation and muscle pain (4 comments): "Spine issues are the single thing that pish me to ibuprofen or naproxen over acetaminophen." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47860334)) "I've had good luck with ibuprofen for a herniated disc and sciatica pain." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47971949)) "Ibuprofen is a miracle worker for pain that is caused by inflammation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47967318)) - Effective for migraines and headaches (3 comments): "The NNT (number of people you'd need to take it) to be headache free after 2 hours is about 20 for paracetamol. But only 14 for ibuprofen." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47860509)) "Ibuprofen is very well supported as a treatment for migraines." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47859948)) "it works far better at managing headaches/migraines" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47863820)) - Alternating with acetaminophen gives coverage (3 comments): "alternate between acetaminaphen/paracetamol and ibuprofen based otc painkillers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48815290)) "alternating acetaminophen and ibuprofen every 6 hours as needed works well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47860386)) "take both and alternate their dosing times for better pain coverage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47859603)) ## What people warn about - Stomach upset and GI bleeding (4 comments): "The main issue with ibuprofen is that it can have fairly annoying (but non-life-threatening) side effects like stomach upset and GI bleeds even with normal dosing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48809807)) "Ibuprofen destroys my stomach, often affecting me for days after a single dose." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47863769)) "I had intestinal bleeding after double ibuprofen dosage over several weeks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47859667)) - Little or no relief for some (4 comments): "ibuprofen, methylprednisolone, epidural lumbar steroid injection all did little to nothing for my herniated disc nerve pain" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47866499)) "ibuprofen and an oral steroid like methylprednisolone did nothing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47866269)) "for me ibuprofen doesn't seme to help at all with any of these" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47866249)) - Kidney damage with regular use (3 comments): "has severely reduced kidney function from taking an ibuprofen+antihistamine most days of his early life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47857597)) "I do have some of it down to unwisely taking Ibuprofen semi-regularly, i.e. Kidneys, bladder." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49319768)) "It can also cause kidney damage which can be life threatening" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810124)) - Problems worse with heavy or long use (3 comments): "severe cramps once when I had to use a lot of ibuprofen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47858914)) "Those side effects are more problematic when used chronically." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48811334)) "very few people should be taking either of these drugs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47862403)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Acetaminophen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/acetaminophen.md): 14 recommend - [Naproxen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/naproxen.md): 8 recommend - [Paracetamol](https://hackerapproved.com/p/paracetamol.md): 7 recommend - [Tylenol](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tylenol.md): 5 recommend - [Aspirin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/aspirin.md): 5 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Ibuprofen", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ibuprofen/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).