We don’t want to brand CBD as the miracle cure all compound, but the evidence is starting to suggest that it can help us in ways we don’t yet fully understand.
People are looking towards alternative medicine to help treat chronic issues such as pain. In the wake of the opioid epidemic, particularly in the United States, there is now more pressure on governments and medical professionals to prescribe pain relief that doesn’t cause lasting impacts and addiction. CBD may seem like a fad or a buzz word, but the body of evidence is growing towards its benefits, especially when used to treat a variety of medical conditions and aliments, so how can CBD help you with pain relief?
What is CBD
CBD is one of 423 compounds found in the cannabis sativa plant. In different strains of cannabis, different compounds appear in different proportions. In hemp, which is legal to cultivate in the U.S. and the UK, CBD or cannabidiol is at a higher percentage than other compounds such as the psychoactive component THC. However, scientists are beginning to uncover that for CBD to be at its most effective, you need to be taking oil that has all 423 compounds rather than products that only isolate the CBD. This is due to the synergist nature of cannabis on our systems, it becomes more than the sum of its parts when it is a full spectrum and can have some amazing effects on the human body.
Chronic Pain
People who suffer from chronic pain often also suffer from anxiety and stress about the chronic pain, and this can then increase the pain felt and you are stuck in vicious cycle. Taking CBD has been demonstrated to have an anti-inflammatory effect on inflamed areas. So if you have chronic back pain, CBD can help alleviate the associated symptoms.
Can CBD Help Repair Damage to Our Bodies?
If you are an active person, go to the gym, hike or take part in any other fitness activity, CBD can help, especially if you have suffered an injury. Not only can the CBD reduce the inflammation of the area, it can also stimulate muscles into the recovery phase. Athletes are now using CBD as a pre-workout and post-workout treatment to combat fatigued muscles and to help speed up injury recovery time. CBD has shown to been particularly effective in the management of symptoms associated with arthritis. The autoimmune disease results in the body breaking down its own tissues which causes inflammation and pain. Recent studies have used CBD to try and reduce inflammation, but the results showed that it stimulated the immune system and promoted a response whereby it began to stop attacking itself.
CBD Can Calm and Sooth
There is little more distressing than being in total and uncontrollable pain. We’ve all been there, when we’ve put our back out or twisted an ankle, it’s difficult to sleep and then you find yourself focusing solely on the pain you are in and unable to rest. Our bodies are home to an endocannabinoid system which translates the signals we receive from taking CBD into actions around our bodies and then responds in a variety of ways. One of the responses from our cells when CBD enters our bodies is a calming and soothing effect. The primary response is one of pain management, with the second response being a calming effect. Both of these responses have a synergist effect whereby because you are calm, the pain starts to reduce and the pain starts to reduce further because you are now in a calmer state.
Tolerances
Unlike opiate-based medicine, it is suggested that you can’t build up a tolerance to CBD. This is good news given that long standing opiate use can come with an array of health issues and dependency problems. If human beings are unable to build up a tolerance against CBD, then you will not need to systematically increase your dosage to maintain and manage your symptoms. Further research is needed in this area, but the preliminary results are promising.
Final Thoughts
We don’t want to brand CBD as the miracle cure all compound, but the evidence is starting to suggest that it can help us in ways we don’t yet fully understand. CBD is highly effective in managing all types of pain, from chronic pain, damage we have caused through exercise, as well as auto immune pain such as arthritic joints. The anti-inflammatory effect is just one positive effect that CBD can have on our bodies and we are still understanding how much good CBD can do for us. From the research that is currently being undertaken, it appears that we can’t build up a tolerance against CBD which is highly positive as it means we can stay on the same level of dose. The side effects of taking CBD seem to be dramatically less than the side effects of taking opiate based medicine for a prolonged period of time.
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