Abstract: Effective treatments of pain and/or inflammation for extended periods of time are provided. Through the administration of an effective amount of sulindac or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof at or near a target site, one can relieve pain and/or inflammation caused by diverse sources, including but not limited to spinal disc herniation (i.e. sciatica), spondilothesis, stenosis, discongenic back pain and joint pain, as well as pain that is incidental to surgery. When appropriate formulations are provided within biodegradable polymers, this relief can be continued for at least three days, at least twenty-five days. In some embodiments, the relief can be for at least fifty days, at least one hundred days, at least one hundred and thirty-five days or at least one hundred and eighty days.