Can I crush or bite my Ibuprofen or asprin tablet when i swallow it?

Question

I have an ear infection in my right ear can i bite it I absolutely HATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE taking pills yuck wat will happen if i bite it once???????

Answer 1

The issue in not chewing pills up, when there is one, is to keep the drug from entering your system too rapidly, or sometimes to protect your GI tract from the medication a bit.  Buffered aspirin is like that--you'll lose the buffering effect that's supposed to help keep the aspirin from upsetting your stomach if you chew it.  Some drugs are designed to be controlled-release or extended release and they shouldn't be crushed or chewed because then all of the drug will be released at once.

Ibuprofen and aspirin can be chewed if you want to--like the previous poster said, the worst that will happen is that it will taste awful.  You could also get children's versions of these medications and just take enough to equal the adult dosage--they both come in chewable tablets for kids.

Answer 2

If you don't like to swallow tablets then there is a liquid form of Motrin. Like the doctor above me said- the issue here is the rate at which the medication is absorbed into your system. Many medications come shaped and formed the way they do for special reasons. It is deadly to crush some tablets. You should just buy the motrin liquid and see your doctor for some antibiotics for that ear infection.

Answer 3

It won't hurt to crush or bite them. I have to cut or crush all my pills before taking them or they won't dissolve in my stomach because of the coating and my gastroparesis. The only kind that must me taken whole is extended release or long acting, never crush or bite these because they are supposed to dissolve over time, not all at once. The pharmacist told me about the pills I can and cannot crush, cut or bite. If you don't want them to taste so bad mix them in something like applesauce or pudding.

Answer 4

Making those pills smaller will  not effect them

Answer 5

It will taste awful, for starters.  You should not chew Ibuprofen that is not intended to be chewed up - I believe there are children's forms of the medicine available that you can chew, though.  I'm not entirely sure what the science/medical reasoning behind not chewing the pills is, but the horrible taste should be detterent enough.