My rheumatologist said that I could use Tylenol or an NSAID (Ibuprofen, etc,), just not on a regular basis. If I need some extra pain relief during the day I take Ibuprofen along with a meal or snack since you need to take it with food, If I wake up at night in pain I take Tylenol so I don't need to eat anything. It seems to me that Ibuprofen is more effective but the pain improvement is small. Since your pain is in just one hand it might not be caused by PMR since the disease generally causes pain on both sides. In that case the over the counter drugs may be more effective than if it was caused by PMR. I would check with your doctor in any case.