It’s hard to miss the CBD phenomenon. A natural hemp-based treatment, this cannabis compound does not have a narcotic effect but effectively relieves acute or chronic pain.
If cannabidiol, more commonly known as CBD, is a compound in cannabis, it’s not here to get you high! Coming in the form of flowers, capsules, or oil, CBD is one of the very popular natural remedies to fight sleep or anxiety problems. Several studies also confirm its effectiveness in relieving certain types of pain.
CBD for what types of pain?
To know how CBD oil works on pain, it is important to understand what the pain is for.
Acute pain, a warning signal
All of our body’s messages are useful to us. Acute pain also has a key role. It corresponds to an alert warning of a dysfunction of the organism.
It is the receptors located on our skin and our organs, the nociceptors, which are stimulated and send a message to the nervous system. Then, it’s the brain’s turn to interpret this message.
Acute pain, like that induced by a burn, for example, will cause a reflex response to remove the hand from the too-hot surface. Installed for more than three months, the pain becomes chronic. It then loses its primary alert function and must be taken care of.
In fact, on a daily basis, chronic pain affects the quality of life. In addition, it can cause sleep disturbances, anxiety, and even depression.
The different types of pain
Three different types of pain can be unfortunate:
- inflammatory such as joint pain;
- neuropathic like sciatica and other back pain;
- mixed which combines the previous two as pain following surgery.
Researchers from the famous McGill Institute in Montreal have shown that medical cannabis effectively relieves chronic neuropathic pain and related anxiety by activating specific serotonin receptors.
How to relieve pain with CBD?
The medicinal solutions that are offered against pain (paracetamol, aspirin, morphine, etc.) have side effects. This is not the case with CBD oil which calms pain without adverse effects.
The different forms of CBD
CBD is consumed in different forms.
For muscle pain related to sports, for example, do not hesitate to massage the painful area with a CBD cream. Or better yet, massage with CBD oil. Thanks to its targeted application to the affected area and its diffusion through the mucous membranes, you should feel almost instant relief.
As CBD has anti-inflammatory properties, it can be recommended to relieve joint pain such as rheumatism. A study published by the European Journal of Pain demonstrated that it was possible to reduce pain and inflammation in rats with osteoarthritis by applying CBD in gel form.
For quick action, it is possible to consume CBD oil sublingually, that is to say by placing a few drops of the oil directly under the tongue.
A personalized dosage
It is not so much possible to recommend a precise dosage of CBD for pain relief. Because indeed, several parameters must be taken into account.
We are all different: some of us will be very sensitive to cannabinoids while others need larger doses. The pain itself will give an indication of how much to take.
In any case, whether you have already consumed CBD oil for other problems such as relieving anxiety for example, or whether you are new to the subject, we advise you to test with a low dose in the first place.
Image Credit : Photo by CRYSTALWEED cannabis on Unsplash
