[villages07]

I've been through 2 knee replacements... in both cases, the doc said the joint was too far gone to be helped by any other non-surgical therapy.

For an aching shoulder, the doc did 2 cortisone shots. The first one seemed to provide about 3 months of relief, the second one even less. Enough relief to get me through my first knee. Eventually, I ended up having rotator cuff repair surgery.

So, not sure which joint your friend is dealing with...but, my suggestion is they get it thoroughly evaluated by a doc and see if there are non-surgical options. If the joint has already deteriorated to bone on bone, the shot might provide temporary relief but surgery may eventually be called for. They can do some miraculous things with joint replacement (hips and knees) and the surgery/recovery is not all that bad. Now, shoulders are a different story ....ouch, it's a nasty, painful recovery, but, again, it does work.

I used ibuprofen probably since it first came out 20 years ago for knee pain relief. One of my goals in getting my knees fixed was to get off the ibuprofen. So, again, Aleve may provide some relief but is not a long term solution.

Good luck to your friend.... he/she will know when it's time to take radical action to provide pain relief.