Using CBD to Manage Pain
As with all things in the world of CBD, it’s important to note that formal research is ongoing, and that there’s much we still don’t understand about how CBD works in the human body. However, early clinical reports and an overwhelming number of users’ anecdotal accounts agree: CBD has the potential to be a powerful pain relief tool for both moderate and severe pain symptoms.
With Which Types of Pain can CBD Help?
Once its in your body, CBD works through its interaction with the endocannabinoid system (or “ECS” for short). The ECS is responsible for a wide variety of vital functions, including our perception of pain. CBD can help to reduce the severity of pain from a variety of sources.
CBD is a powerful anti-inflammatory, which assists with a number of the most common types of pain. Inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, muscle, pain, and common sprains can lead to acute pain. CBD can help address this with anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, helping relieve chronic or acute discomfort in the bones, joints, muscles, and skin.
Some research has found that CBD use can help the body to successfully recover from traumatic injuries. While you should always consult your doctor about the recovery process – and CBD is certainly not a cure-all – these early findings offer exciting potential for users from all walks of life.
Outside of the U.S., formal research into CBD’s effectiveness as a pain treatment is better established. For instance, Canada approved Sativex, a hybrid THC and CBD medication, for central neuropathic pain from multiple sclerosis in 2005. It was subsequently approved for treating intractable cancer pain in 2007.
For small-to-moderate pain symptoms, CBD oil can be a powerful tool that helps individuals manage their bodies’ needs. For more significant injuries, however, be sure to consult your healthcare professional. CBD can still be a vital tool for treatment, but your physician may want for you to consider additional treatment measures to assist in your long-term recovery.
Best CBD for pain products
CBD Oil Tinctures: CBD oil tinctures offer fast-acting relief, high bioavailability, and a huge range of strengths and potencies. With all this, they’re perfect for addressing low-to-moderate pain in joints and muscles. They’re taken sublingually — meaning held under the tongue for a time before swallowing — which allows your body to rapidly absorb the CBD. From there, the CBD affects the body’s entire endocannabinoid system, promoting overall wellness and potentially reducing the severity of pain throughout the body. Oils also allow users to carefully measure their dosage and intake, giving precise control and easy adjustments to adequately treat flare-ups.
CBD Vapes: When you need relief and you need it now, CBD vapes are the way to go. No other CBD product can be absorbed more quickly, and vaping’s high bioavailability allows you to feel the full strength of your treatment almost immediately. Like oils, CBD vapes interact with endocannabinoid receptors throughout the body, potentially reducing aches and pains everywhere they occur. Although hemp flower and other smokables are similarly effective, CBD vapes have a reduced impact on the respiratory system. Vapable CBD oil is also ideal because it allows users to easily make adjustments to their treatment throughout the day, and to feel the effects almost immediately.
CBD Topicals: Unlike ingestible products like oils or vapes, CBD topicals are absorbed by endocannabinoid receptors found locally in the skin — but they don’t enter the blood stream. Practically speaking, that means that CBD topicals allow you to target the treatment only on those areas that need it most. Any CBD topical will allow such targeted treatment, but a number of topicals are designed specifically to target pain. These generally include a variety of other soothing ingredients that supplement and enhance CBD’s effects, delivering a more specialized relief.
