Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain: How Can MMJ Help Patients Suffering From Chronic Pain?
According to a report published by the CDC, more than 20.4% of people in the US complain about chronic pain. Although painkillers can provide temporary relief, they have various side effects, such as nausea, drowsiness, clouded thinking, or constipation.
Fortunately, medical cannabis for chronic pain has emerged as an alternative treatment, showing potential in treating inflammation and nerve damage.
What is Chronic Pain?
Sometimes, you experience long-standing pain that continues even after your usual recovery period. For example, you had a back surgery a year ago, but you still experience low back pain every day. If the discomfort persists over a long period, it is considered chronic pain.
A few leading causes of chronic pain are nerve damage, migraine, back problems, past surgeries or injuries, infections, arthritis, and fibromyalgia. You may notice symptoms like throbbing, soreness, stiffness, stinging, and burning sensations in and around the affected area.
The Efficacy of Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain
Medical marijuana contains CBD and THC compounds that can relieve long-standing pain. A research report on the effects of medical cannabis for chronic pain suggests that multiple trials had positive results. Researchers believe that MMJ may be able to deal with a few types of chronic pain, like neuropathy and muscle sprains.
Both CBD and THC in MMJ can efficiently deal with chronic pain. THC stimulates the cannabinoid receptors in your brain to reduce your pain levels. It binds to the CB1 and CB2 receptors of your endocannabinoid system to relax your mind.
On the other hand, CBD interacts with CB1 and CB2 receptors to send signals to the pain receptors in your brain. These receptors exert anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects to help manage chronic pain away.
Medical Marijuana’s Effect on Chronic Pain
The phytocannabinoid components, such as flavonoids, CBD, THC, and terpenes in medical marijuana work with your body’s endocannabinoid system to alleviate persistent pain.
These components try to exhibit synergistic effects so that your body’s endogenous pain control remains balanced and you don’t experience the discomfort associated with chronic pain.
What is the Most Effective Treatment for Chronic pain?
Your doctor first needs to identify the reason why you experience chronic pain. They’ll consider factors such as your overall health, age, cause of the pain, and type of pain, before providing any treatment.
A few common treatment plans that doctors usually suggest are therapies, medication, and lifestyle changes.
If you don’t want to experience any of the above side effects, you can rely on medical marijuana. You may notice positive results if you follow the dosage instructions mentioned by your doctor.
Medical Marijuana as Another Method for Treating Chronic Pain
Most people depend so much on painkillers that they immediately think of taking one of the pills if they experience some sort of body ache. While painkillers may relieve your body ache temporarily, they have long-term side effects. You may feel dizzy, nauseous, itchy, or sweaty if you take too many painkillers.
Instead, you should try medical marijuana since it doesn’t have too many side effects. Your body needs to acquaint itself with the phytocannabinoid components to deal with chronic pain. This may take some time, but once it gets used to the marijuana compounds, you may notice that the pain is alleviating slowly.
If you are looking for a long-term solution to chronic pain, it’s better to rely on medical marijuana. Enough studies suggest that it can relieve chronic pain over time.
You need to apply for a medical marijuana card and get a recommendation from a doctor to start using medical cannabis. It’s easy, given the telemedicine sites that have started becoming popular. One of them being TeleLeaf.
