The quality of life can be considerably affected by pain, whether it’s acute or chronic pain. Pain can arise as a result of trauma, disease, chronic inflammation and even from medical procedures such as chemotherapy. Whatever the root cause of pain, we can’t deny that pain reduces productivity and negatively affects wellbeing. For people experiencing chronic pain, not only does it become limiting, it becomes debilitating too.
Today, more and more people address pain relief through the use of CBD. Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of those natural compounds that is showing promise as a life-saver for millions of people suffering from disease and chronic pain. In this article, we will dig deeper into the pain-relieving mechanism of CBD and show you how it can be used for the management of pain.
Different Types of Pain
There are two main types of pain – nociceptive and neuropathic pain. Psychogenic pain is a term that describe cases of pain but this isn’t an official diagnostic term.
Nociceptive pain is caused by a consistent activation of pain receptors that are linked with inflammation. Such kind of chronic pain manifest in rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases and HIV/AIDS.
Neuropathic pain is recognized as changes that happen in the nervous system even after recovery, which arises as an ongoing pain sensation. People who underwent chemotherapy may notice lingering pain sensations. Psychogenic pain is associated with some form of psychological disturbance, which include depression, anxiety or stress.
Regardless of the type of pain, the most commonly prescribed treatment is opioid drugs. This traditional pain-relieving drug include morphine, hydrocodone, codeine and other narcotic drugs that work on the Central Nervous System to alleviate pain symptoms. However, for many patients, these strong narcotic treatments exhibit unpleasant side effects.
How Does CBD Works for Pain?
Imagine CBD as a key that opens a lock in the door. In this case, the door are the millions of brain receptors that affects your daily processes in life. When the doors are closed and locked, they are inactive. But when open, they are active.
It is these active brain receptors we are more concerned with as they initiate reactions from the body and the brain. To get these doors open, we have to look for the right key. This is where CBD takes the spotlight. CBD serves as the key that initiates three crucial brain receptors:
Adenosine. This type of receptor are responsible for modulating anxiety. The body effectively keep these receptors active by itself but there are times when the receptors do not fire consistently or the brain does not produce sufficient chemicals for them to stay active.
When that occurs, a person may begin feeling paranoid, anxious or depressed. CBD works by stimulating the activity of adenosine receptor, in order to reduce ‘mental pain’ that you feel.
Serotonin. When serotonin receptors are active, they release an antidepressant chemicals that reignite the mood and improve your overall outlook in life. CBD turns these serotonin receptors on and can cause a significant impact on the way you feel.
Vanilloid. When active, vanilloid receptors can reduce the sensation of pain and inflammation. In sufficient concentrations, CBD can amplify the effect of vanilloid receptors so you could feel less pain and inflammation.
How Can I Use CBD for Pain Relief Management?
The dosing of CBD oil is highly subjective. Experts say that CBD is well-tolerated in humans by up to 1500mg without fear of overdosing. The trick to getting the right CBD dosage is to start with a minimum dose and slowly increase until you find your ‘sweet spot’. By then, you can keep it at that level for 90 days or longer.
Most people begin their CBD dose at 12mg CBD per day, taken or applied 3 times. Individuals suffering from medium to severe symptoms can start at 22 to 30mg CBD per day. Patients with epilepsy may take 3mg/kg per day for 30 days. This is the one used in many CBD studies that turned positive.
CBD comes in many different products. Fortunately, cannabis growers have come up with a Low THC High CBD strains so people experiencing chronic pain can obtain the relief they need without worrying about getting high. If you want to use CBD for pain management, try the following products:
- CBD oil
- CBD strips
- High CBD rolls or buds such as Charlotte’s Web
- CBD tinctures
- CBD edibles
CBD may interact with other drugs, by reducing or increasing the effect of that drug. Before taking any CBD product, be sure to consult your doctor. And check out tips on the best cbd oil for pain.
4 comments
I’ve been taking CBD oil to help me sleep at night, and besides helping with that I’ve also found that I wake up without back pain like I used to. It’s really wonderful!
God post, I would just add something about how to watch our for sneaky, low quality oils as many companies currently try to fool us. I wrote a piece about it
Very nice intro to the subject of CBD! Also I would say it’s worth to remember that if you take any drugs, you should first consult the cbd intake with your doctor. CBD can interact with some drugs and by far, this is the best and most complex article I found about it: https://www.mydosage.com/cbd-guide/cbd-drugs-interactions-explained
Hope it will help many people
I read quite interesting material on this topic here. In everyday life you have to be active a lot, and doing it with pain is simply impossible. CBD for pain is a real savior for many. For everyone, of course, there may be a dosage, it is best to consult a doctor first. Informative article!