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Frequently, we exert excessive strain on the muscles, either through exercise or boring old menial jobs. As a result, you could wake the following morning with aches in the muscles. Consequently, you experience a daylong sick feeling that lingers for days. One effective remedy you can resort to is CBD. You can administer CBD in either of the two methods depending on your choice: oral CBD or Topical CBD.
Can I use CBD for Muscle Pain?
CBD is ideal in treating most types of pains, including muscle pain. Although most people know CBD to be an aid for epilepsy, it is also known to be a stress reliever and even a performance enhancer. However, one of the biggest selling points of CBD is pain relief.
Do you have questions to ask regarding the administration dosage, effectiveness of treatment, applicability, side effects of CBD? This article answers in detail all the above questions. We have also provided the additional information you might need in using CBD in the effective treatment of muscle pain. Are you ready? Let’s do this.
Does It Really Work?
Because of excessive strain on the body, you could experience pains in the exerted muscles. This might cause a sick feeling the day afterward, which wouldn’t be a pleasant experience. More intense cases could persist for days.
Over the years, analgesics have been the widely known remedy where people find succor from muscle pains and aches. However, recent research using animal models has proven CBD’s relative safety, non-psychoactive properties, and low abuse potential.
Asides from its use as stress relief and a sleep enhancer, the anti-inflammatory properties of CBD (aka cannabidiol) can relieve muscle pain. More so, despite CBD being a promising option for pain relief, research has not proven it to be safe and effective. This results from the lack of prolonged studies in humans by the Food and Drug Administration. Hence, CBD is yet to gain approval as a dietary supplement or food additive.
How CBD, Especially the Topical, Really Work Against Pain
CBD has various modes of administration; the recommended modes are oral and topical. For a better understanding, the word “topical” shows the usage of CBD as a skin ointment. In this context, it is better referred to as CBD oil. This section equips you with valuable information on the properties and a description of the topical usage of CBD.
You might ask, what exactly is CBD? CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is a natural compound extracted from the cannabis plant. Contrary to popular beliefs, CBD will not get you a feeling of highness. This is because it doesn’t produce tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the same psychotropic substance found in other cannabis products.
How is CBD oil administered topically? First, you simply smear on the affected body part (not on the knee when you feel pains on your shoulder). You then massage it gently into the skin and allow it. The epidermis’ absorptive nature allows for easy absorption into the skin and takes about 15-45 minutes to take its toll.
What’s more? CBD has minimal side effects plus a zero-addiction, low-risk profile. Before you ingest an oil-capsule or smear some oil on your skin, you’ll appreciate the next outline.
The Anti-Inflammatory Properties & Science Behind CBD
Just in case you’re wondering about the choice of CBD for pain relief amidst the various analgesics already available in drugstores, here’s something. While CBD possesses anti-inflammation properties, we know pain to be caused by inflammations. This suffices an explanation towards clarifying the usage of CBD as a relief antidote.
It might also interest you to know that asides from its anti-inflammatory effect, CBD possesses the following properties:
- Anti-oxidative: This means that by decreasing symptoms of autoimmune conditions and fighting oxidative stress, CBD helps reduce systematic inflammation;
- Anti-psychotic: This means that it can ease symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and anxiety.
- Neuroprotective: This means that you can use it to slow down the progression of neurological disorders (Sclerosis, for example).
- Anti-emetic: This means that it can be used to reduce vomiting.
Other Types of Pain and CBD
You may have asked along the line: is CBD effective in the relief from other types of pain apart from muscle pain? Yes, of course! CBD is effective in easing symptoms of various health ailments which you might find interesting. They’re precisely described below.
Neuropathic Pain
What is neuropathic pain? This is pain affected by damages to nerves by which information is transferred from other body parts to the brain. The most common causes of neuropathic pain are divided as follows: disease, injury, infection, and limb loss.
However, other symptoms could be mistaken for neuropathic pain. They include Rheumatoid arthritis, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Necrotizing vasculitis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. It is quite unfortunate that most adults suffer from chronic muscle pains clear in the number of disabilities around the globe. For instance, over 50 million adults in the United States alone are affected, as obtained from research statistics.
In recent times, the number of people in search of natural alternatives to help manage their pains has been on the rise. The rise of CBD popularity has provided such individuals with yet another natural option to help in pain management. Many reputable brands have come up with several products to help these individuals. That’s why it’s now possible to find the best CBD cream for neuropathy pain.
Arthritis Pain
Arthritis is an ailment that causes weakness of the bones. The two most common types of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a condition in which a person’s immune system attacks their joints, causing inflammation. The most commonly affected body parts are the hands and feet and result in painful, stiff, and swollen joints. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition that joint bones and cartilage, resulting in stiffness and pain. Commonly affected body parts are the thumb, knee, and hip joints.
Does CBD help in arthritis? Anecdotal evidence suggests that people having arthritis report improved sleep, noticeable pain relief, or improved sleep after using CBD. This is according to a report from the Arthritis Foundation.
Chronic Pain
How can CBD be of help to you in a case of chronic muscle pains? Research shows that the majority (about 62 percent) of people use medical cannabis in order to treat chronic pain. This, as previously stated, is due to the previously stated anti-inflammatory effect of CBD.
By far, the most popular way of getting relief from chronic pain is using some sort of topical product. That’s where topicals like CBD salves/balms come into play. Today many popular CBD salves products offer myriads of active components, along with the anti-inflammatory effect of CBD, which helps relieve the pain effectively. One good fact about these CBD products is that they come with all-natural ingredients that have little to no side effects.
Dosage to Follow for Muscle pain
The amount of CBD you take depends on several variables. You will now consider such factors as your body weight, body chemistry, the CBD concentration of each pill, capsule, or drop. In a condition where you have no formal prescription, we recommend starting with 20 to 40 mg/day. However, you keep increasing the dosage by 5mg the following week, pending when you feel your symptoms are being treated.
It will be wise to keep track of your overall body’s CBD dosage/consumption plus your response to medication. To do this, a notepad, either on your phone or book, would be just perfect.
Does CBD Have Any Side Effects?
CBD, however, has some side effects. Some of them are drowsiness, light-headedness, dry mouth, low blood pressure. More so, it may be unsafe to take CBD if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. This is because CBD products might contain another constituent that could be harmful either to the fetus or the infant. Besides being unsafe for children below 1year old, it is still unclear if it is safe for children. In addition, tremors could worsen if large doses of CBD are taken by a patient who has Parkinson’s disease. It’s recommended to discuss any unusual things which might occur after the consumption of CBD products with your doctor before taking any more dosage of the product.
Final Thoughts
CBD is a widely used analgesic, it is legalized by some states in the US and some neighboring countries. Its wide application in treating pain-related ailments has made it an easy go for patients who love it naturally. We advise, however, that you don’t take more than is optimal for your body to avoid complications.