What is pain?

Pain is a distressing feeling that often results from intensity or damage. It can be an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience linked with possible tissue damage. The purpose of pain is to allow the body to react and prevent further tissue damage. The nervous system becomes stimulated when a signal is sent through the nerves to the brain for interpretation. 

Pain can range from annoying to debilitating and it can be consistent or random. People respond differently to pain since everyone has a different tolerance level. Luckily, CBD is an analgesic so it can work just like an over-the-counter pain-killer but without any of the negative side effects.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation is a response from the immune system resulting from injury or infection. The body signals the immune system to heal and repair damaged tissue and defend against foreign invaders like viruses and bacteria.

Inflammation is a good thing unless it goes on too long thereby becoming a chronic problem resulting in autoimmune disorders. CBD can help to decrease persistent inflammation in the body and even promote healing.

How does CBD work in the body?

The human body is home to the endocannabinoid system. The main objective of this system is to maintain balance, or homeostasis within the body allowing for cells to be able to properly complete their tasks so that internal processes can work at optimal levels.

When things are in homeostasis or dynamic equilibrium, each of the different organ systems in the body is working perfectly. This also helps the body continuously adapt to any changes that it encounters in order to maintain a stable internal environment.

The endocannabinoid system is a vast network comprised of cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids, and enzymes. The cannabinoid receptors are located on the membranes of different cells throughout the body. The endocannabinoids are active signaling molecules produced by the body and are similar to the active compounds found in cannabis there are two types called CB1 and CB2.

These cannabinoids activate the receptors mentioned previously and promote a specific response from a cell. Different cells within the body provide different mechanisms of action depending on where they are in the body.

There are endocannabinoid receptors located throughout the entire body including the central nervous system, the vital organs, various glands, reproductive organs, the immune system, the gastrointestinal tract, and connective tissues.

This means that endocannabinoids can trigger a wide range of biological responses inside a cell depending on what is going on at that given time. CBD can help when there is a deficiency within the body and can thus work to bring the body back into balance.

Then there are also enzymes that work to create and later degrade these compounds.

How does CBD help with pain management?

CBD is both analgesic and anti-inflammatory thereby helping to effectively decrease pain in the short-term while also promoting the healing process in the long term.

This means it can prevent acute inflammation from becoming chronic which greatly affects health for the positive. It also does these things without any negative side effects like stomach irritation or liver toxicity and without the possibility of addiction, unlike most prescription drugs used to treat the same problems.

Therefore, CBD can be used effectively both internally and externally for both acute and chronic problems. For acute pain from injuries or infections, CBD can help to quickly lower pain and inflammation. For chronic pain lasting longer than one month, CBD can help manage pain on a daily basis.

Most common types of pain

The most common types of chronic pain are back pain, headaches, joint pain, and nerve pain, which we discuss further below. CBD can help with any of these types of pain by helping to decrease inflammation with consistent use.

Back pain is an epidemic and is a major reason for disability and lost productivity in the workplace. This often affects the lower back resulting from an injury and progressing to arthritis or osteoporosis. This can include slipped or bulging discs, compression fractures, spinal stenosis, soft tissue damage from strain or trauma to muscles, ligaments, or tendons, spinal fractures, and structural deformities like scoliosis or lordosis.

The analgesic ability of CBD can help to minimize back pain and lower inflammation from any strain or trauma.

Headaches are reported by 50% of the adult population. The most common types are tension headaches from stress, fatigue, or sleeping wrong, eye strain headaches from ocular muscles becoming strained, migraines from nervous system triggers or hormonal imbalances, and cluster headaches from the enlargement of blood vessels in the head.

CBD can help to eliminate headaches by lowering stress and tension and helping to bring the body back into balance.

Joint pain often comes from injury, infection, or aging. The most common form is arthritis in either osteoarthritis in the elderly affecting the larger joints or rheumatoid arthritis which is an autoimmune disorder that results in swelling of the joint spaces. There are also repetitive motion injuries that are common in athletes and people who do similar tasks throughout the day, bursitis from the swelling of the fluid-filled sacs that cushion the joints, and tendonitis which comes from inflammation of the joint tendons.

This means that CBD can also help with athletic performance and recovery by reducing muscle soreness and decreasing inflammation.

Nerve or neuropathic pain results when either the nerves are damaged, compressed, or exposed to drugs that strip their protective exterior coating called the myelin sheath. This can include sciatica from nerve compression often characterized by shooting pain down the leg, diabetic neuropathy occurring in the hands and feet, carpal tunnel syndrome linked with repetitive motion, and postherpetic neuralgia following shingles infection, and trigeminal neuralgia.

CBD can help by decreasing any uncomfortable sensation of pain so that you can continue with your day.

A lot of our clients are finding relief not only with our CBD oil taken internally but also with our topical products applied internally. Of particular interest would be the CBD Muscle and Joint Stick.