There have been a rare few discoveries since the dawn of time that were seminal in the course of history. You can draw a thick black line and divide all events into “before this” and “since this”. I’m talking, like, the invention of agriculture. The introduction of cavalry in warfighting. The creation of the printing press. And, if you are over the age of 40, you have to include the discovery of ibuprofen.
Being over 40 means spending each day simply trying to manage the aches and pains and humiliations of just trying to get by in life. Putting on socks is legitimately the most difficult thing I do eight out of ten days. Everything is so hard and hurts so much. I don’t know how anyone in olden times did it without taking two ibuprofen in the morning, and sometimes two more in the afternoon. Hikers also don’t need to be told about the virtues of ibuprofen. Its nom de guerre on various trails is Vitamin I.
In salute to this miracle drug, I thought it would be cool to regale you with twelve facts about ibuprofen you never knew. Unless you are a chemist or pharmacologist, in which case you definitely know these.
1- Ibuprofen is a word formed from pieces of its original chemical name: iso-butyl-propanoic-phenolic acid.
2- Stewart Adams, one of the scientists who discovered the drug, once used it on himself to cure a serious hangover while it was in clinical trails.
3- Because of those hangover elixir properties and ibuprofen’s ability to ease menstrual pain, Stewart Adams once made a list of “50 men who really understand women”
4- Ibuprofen is a racemic mixture. Only the S-enantiomer is active and the R-enantiomer is converted by the body into the S once taken.
5- Ibuprofen piconol is a major ingredient in one of Japan’s best-selling anti-acne creams.
6- Samantha Reckis and her family sued Johnson & Johnson after a reaction to Motrin caused toxic epidermal necrolysis and partial blindness in 2003. They were awarded over $100 million.
7- Ibuprofen should never be given to children under the age of six months. This is because the primary organ that metabolizes it is the kidneys, which are not fully developed before six months.
8- John Nicholson, a chemist who also helped discover ibuprofen, got a bachelor’s and doctorate from Oxford University.
9- Storing ibuprofen in your bathroom (as opposed to someplace cool and dry) can cause it to fall below 75% potency after one year.
10- Ibuprofen is marketed under many different names across the world. Here are some: Back Pain (Colombia), Bravex (Georgia), Brufen Retard (Turkiye), Fenris (Indonesia), Flamex (Bangladesh), Mypaid (South Africa), Toni (Taiwan)
11- In 2014 a man reported having increased libido and erectile function for six hours after taking ibuprofen following a root canal. He did, in fact, call a doctor.
12- Ibuprofen functions by blocking the creation of prostaglandins. The 1982 Nobel Prize in Physiology was awarded for work that led to the discovery of prostaglandins and similar substances.
Gene Hikes the Appalachian Trail 
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