I am a 55-year old man in the roofing business. I sliced my hand on some metal sheeting and need surgery to repair a severed tendon. I've been taking Celebrex for hip arthritis but the doctor says this might keep the tendon from healing. I'm worried if I stop taking it, my hip will start acting up again. What do you advise?

It sounds like you have a doctor who is up to date on some of the latest findings. Celebrex is a newer antiinflammatory called COX-2 inhibitors. These drugs reduce
inflammation without causing bleeding ulcers.

A recent study from Sweden did report delayed tendon healing when a similar drug was used after surgery. The study was done on rats and the drug was Dynastat, the first injectable
COX-2 inhibitor. Dynastat is in the same family as Vioxx, but not exactly the same. As a result of their findings, the researchers advised avoiding COX-2 inhibitors in the early days after tendon injury.

You may be without your Celebrex for a week to 10 days. After that time, COX-2 inhibitors are known to improve healing time. Their ability to reduce inflammation helps increase
the tissue remodeling process that occurs later in the healing phase.