I can offer advice based on my experience. Normally, NSAIDs are contraindicated. Ibuprofen is an anti-prostaglandin. Prostaglandin hormones, among many functions, regulate inflammatory mediation. IOW, they are a part of your body's natural processes. Inflammation aids in healing damaged or stressed tissues. NSAIDs can prevent these helpful hormones from doing their job, thus making things worse in the long run.

OTOH, sometimes swelling causes tissues to rub on each other during activity, a tendon in a tendon sheath for example. In these cases, where inactivity is not an option and any activity, even walking, makes the problem worse, NSAIDs have an important place. I have often taken NSAIDs for what would have been a ride-stopping inflammation and finished in fine style with no further problems or long term effects. I once did a 10 day backpack with a torn meniscus. Only ibuprofen got me through it. My rule is: if I'm going to be OK without it, I don't take it. I never take it as a prophylactic. I do take it when I need to do something to prevent a bummer outcome. Worst case, I start with 3 ea. 200mg. ibuprofen and take another 200mg every two hours for the duration of the activity. If you have to keep going, keeping going without the ibuprofen is worse for you than keeping going with the ibuprofen.

The above advice of laying off the activity while taking an NSAID is good advice, but frequently impossible. This is a bike forum. I have biker friends with ruined knees and/or ankles. Many bikers are broken runners. They can't ride at all without ibuprofen, so they take it before and during, in about the quantities I mention above. Riding with ibuprofen is far better than not riding at all.

More important than ibuprofen is keeping a high cadence/low pedal effort.