4 Benefits Of CBD Oil For Joint Pain
If you have arthritis, you must have heard about Cannabis oil. It’s a pretty popular herbal remedy, despite coming from a controversial plant, marijuana.
And even if it’s hard to believe, this remedy turns out to be pretty effective. Compared to other essential oils, it’s a lot stronger and you can see it work pretty soon. So let me show you which are the top 4 benefits of CBD oil for joint pain and why it’s so effective.
1. Reduces Inflammation
Just like many other herbs, CBD oil has great potential for reducing inflammation. It’s not the first one, so nothing new so far. But there’s something special about the way it calms down this swelling.
CBD interacts with certain brain receptors and it changes the way the respond to stimuli. In other words, it makes them insensitive to pain, so they stop sending the painful signal to you body. In this way, you’re simply not feeling the pain anymore.
Tell me another herb that can do this. There aren’t many, that’s for sure.
Obviously, not even CBD oil can reduce your pain completely. It may stop certain pain receptors, but it won’t stop them all. So don’t expect to get a major relief instantly, because that won’t happen.
In fact, it also depends of your body. Some people experience a great relief, while other don’t feel any change. No herb has 100% success, and cannabis makes no exception.
2. Lots Of Studies Behind
A great thing about cannabis and its oil is that they have lots of proofs behind. Scientists conducted a lot of experiments on them and the results were mostly positive.
The first evidence came up after a 2011 study, when scientists discovered that CBD oil manages to change pain receptors and they way they respond to stimuli. In 2016, another study proved that the oil applied on the skin has similar results for joint pain. So you can also use it topically, not only by mouth.
Further on, scientists discovered that the oil can work for both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.
However, there’s still a problem – most of these studies were conducted on animals, not on humans. That’s why there is no scientific evidence for its use on humans. I personally believe it would be really effective, as the animals that were studied are pretty similar to humans from this point of view. But that’s how science is.
So if you care about this kind of evidence and data, CBD oil has enough studies behind, even though most are on animals.
3. Fights Additional Depression
I don’t know about people with OA, but when you have RA, depression is very frequent. If you’re dealing this condition, you surely know what I’m talking about. You have days when the pains is so strong that you can barely move, so how could you not feel depressed?
Well, CBD oil seems to help depression as well. That’s what a 2006 study claims.
According to it, cannabis restores the normal endocannabinoid function and stabilizes the moods. That sounds pretty complicated, but from I understood, it’s pretty similar to changing pain receptors’ response. At least that’s the mechanism.
However, the problem is that there aren’t many studies behind. Scientists are still studying this topic, so they can’t give a clear conclusion yet. But so far, things look pretty encouraging.
CBD oil does have a great potential when it comes to fighting additional depression. And if it decreases your arthritis pain, it will probably help it as well.
4. Little Side Effects
Compared to regular marijuana, CBD oil is quite safe to use. You could only have some problems when taking it by mouth. But as it usually comes as capsules, there shouldn’t be any problem as long as you follow the recommended dose.
CBD oil doesn’t contain all the substances from marijuana. So don’t worry about getting high, because that won’t happen too soon. There’s no THC, which is the compound responsible for that “high” feeling. So from this point of view, you’re completely safe.
Things are even better if you only apply the oil on your skin. In this case, it’s absorbed directly to the painful spot, so it doesn’t get into the bloodstream. So when it’s applied topically, CBD oil can’t really produce any major side effect, other than a possible rash.
If you’re taking it by mouth, you could experience some fatigue or digestive problems at most. But as I said, these effects are pretty rare so you shouldn’t worry too much.
If you’re taking the oil in capsules, just make sure you follow the dose and nothing bad should happen.
But Is It Legal?
Marijuana is a dangerous substance, you surely know that. And even though it’s useful for arthritis, that doesn’t make it less dangerous. In most US states, marijuana is illegal. And as CBD oil is connected to it, it can also have some legal matters.
So is it legal or not, at this point?
Well, let’s put it this way. There are 2 types of CBD oil – marijuana or hemp derived. What makes them different is actually the difference of THC they contain. As I said before, THC is the substance that makes you “get high”, so it’s extremely dangerous. While hemp contains about 0.3% THC, marijuana contains up to 30%.
At this point, most brands produce CBD oil that is derived from hemp. This one is 100% legal in all states, so you shouldn’t worry about it. On the other hand, marijuana derived CBD oil is only legal in a few states.
So what I recommend you to do is to only buy hemp-derived CBD oil. The one derived from marijuana isn’t any better in terms of pain relieving, it’s only a lot more dangerous. So if you don’t want to have any legal problems, always choose hemp CBD oil.
CBD Oil Vs Turmeric
Compared to the #1 herbal remedy for inflammation, CBD oil doesn’t seem that efficient. I’m only talking from experience and in my case, CBD oil didn’t do as much for my RA pain.
On the other hand, turmeric continues to relieve my pain even today, after about 3-4 years. Obviously, not all the brands I chose were effective, but once I discovered the right one, I didn’t need anything else.
However, turmeric usually comes as supplements while CBD oil is used mostly topically. When you use turmeric directly on your skin, it’s not that miraculous anymore.
Unfortunately, you can’t find CBD oil as capsules very easily. There are just a few brands, compared to turmeric that has thousands. So people prefer to use the oil on their skin instead of taking some pills.
So overall, I would pick turmeric as the direct winner. In my case, it was a lot more effective when it comes to relieving pain.
My Verdict – Is CBD Oil Worth Trying?
Among all essential oils I tried, this is probably the strongest. So if you’re a fan of oils and topical treatments, you should definitely give CBD oil a shot. I don’t think it could relieve your pain completely, but it can help.
After all, it has a lot of studies behind, it’s pretty safe to use and it can reduce inflammation. These are pretty solid arguments in its favor.
I’m not a personal fan of this remedy, simply because topical treatments are too weak for me. I rarely experienced any relief from creams or oils. So I prefer to use supplements, because that’s what really helps me. But that doesn’t mean CBD oil is a bad remedy, by no means.
So I really advise you to try it, if you get this chance. It probably won’t do miracles, but in some cases it can really help. So how do you know you’re not one of those cases if you don’t try it?
