Curcumin vs Ibuprofen for pain & inflammation
Short answer: For pain & inflammation, more users report improvement with Ibuprofen — 96% of 25 reports, versus 91% of 104 for Curcumin.
Curcumin has 538 meta-analyses and 553 randomized trials on PubMed; Ibuprofen has 511 and 1,743.
Based on 544 reports about Curcumin and 83 about Ibuprofen. Not medical advice.
| Curcumin Supplement | Ibuprofen Medication | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 61%helped180 reports · high confidence | 62%helped50 reports · medium confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 538 / 553 | 511 / 1,743 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 91% (104) | 96% (25) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 96% (45) | 90% (10) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 93% (15) | 100% (5) |
| Memory % reporting improvement | 100% (12) | 86% (7) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 78% (9) | 100% (6) |
| Common side effects | vivid dreams, headache, nausea, dht suppression | stomach issues, headache, stomach ulcers, liver toxicity |
| Typical dose reported | 1000 mg / daily | Not listed |
Curcumin and Curcuma longa Extract may improve symptoms and inflammation levels in people with arthritis. However, due to the low quality and small quantity of RCTs, the conclusions need to be interpreted carefully.
Front Immunol, 2022 ↗“I recently stopped taking Curcumin because of its affect on DHT and I was looking for an alternative measure to deal with inflammation as I feel it really helped with anxiety/depression.”
In this study, use of ibuprofen vs acetaminophen for the treatment of fever or pain in children younger than 2 years was associated with reduced temperature and less pain within the first 24 hours of treatment, with equivalent safety.
JAMA Netw Open, 2020 ↗“I've always had a positive response to ibuprofen and would take it morning and night if it wasn't for the side effects and agmatine provides the same anti-depressant effects of ibuprofen.”
Related comparisons
Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate