Pain is an unpleasant sensation that indicates tissue injury or damage. Pain can be pinching, stabbing, aching or throbbing. All these sensations make the individual uncomfortable and may affect body functions. Analgesics are useful in managing pain, but the root cause of the pain needs to be treated for long-term outcomes.
Cannabis Oil is increasingly becoming a popular analgesic. The controversial plant is gaining popularity as an alternative to opioids, known for their adverse side effects.
When you walk into any cannabis dispensary and ask for cannabis oil, you will get a list of varieties. Sativa strains are known to have an energizing, invigorating effect, but they are also known to have pain-relieving properties, useful for muscle pain.
What Causes Muscular Pain?
Muscular pain is primarily inflammatory pain. It presents as acute throbbing. This type of pain can be caused by tissue damage or injury. An injury can be the result of an external object stressing the muscle or general overuse of the muscle. When you stretch your muscles, you can subject them to strain or sprain, resulting in injury.
Stress can also cause muscle pain. When the body is stressed, the brain produces more adrenalin, and blood is diverted from other areas to the muscles to prepare the body to fight the source of the stress.
This is the process through which the body reacts to stress and causes muscles to become tense. These tensed muscles can cause body aches, headaches, and even shoulder and back pains.
Studies on cannabis show that the plant can have beneficial stress-relieving properties, in addition to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Since cannabis can relieve both stress and inflammation, which are the major causes of muscle pain, cannabis oil can be useful in treating muscle pain.
Best Ways to Use Cannabis Oil for Muscle Pain
1. Topical Application
Topical applications are mainly in the form of creams and are probably the most common way of administering cannabis for muscle pain relief. Topical applications are mainly in the form of creams. These are typically found as jelly or creams infused with cannabis oil.
If your work mostly involves sitting at a computer or a desk, then you are probably familiar with tension in the shoulder and neck muscles. Rubbing a few drops of cannabis-infused cream on the area can help alleviate such muscle pain and soreness.
A recent study found that cannabis oil applied on the skin could alleviate muscle inflammation and pain resulting from arthritis. Similar studies have also found that topical applications alleviate inflammation or neuropathic pain.
2. Edibles
Cannabis edibles mostly come as gummies, but you can also find them as cookies, mints, and truffles. CBD oil can also be added to drinks and taken for pain relief.
Edibles may take longer to work, but the effects are known to be more durable. It might take a half-an-hour to two hours before you start feeling the effects when ingesting cannabis oil; it does not go directly to the bloodstream.
Instead, it goes to the liver, where it is first broken down. Due to this first-pass effect, ingesting cannabis oil may not be the best method if you want instant relief. Furthermore, the bioavailability of ingested cannabis oil is only about 20%.
3. Pills/Capsules
Various manufacturers also pack cannabis oil in capsules. If you are often out and about and have recurrent muscle pain, capsules are an ideal option. You can easily ingest them at just about any time, even on the train or any other public place.
Besides the convenience that capsules offer, they also mask the cannabis smell. If you don’t like the earthy cannabis taste and smell, consider using pills or capsules.
4. Tinctures
Like edibles, Tincture cannabis products are taken orally. But unlike edibles, tincture products do not contain additives such as sugars. Tinture products are, therefore, ideal for people who want to avoid additives.
If you take cannabis oil as a tincture, it gets absorbed under the tongue and goes directly into the bloodstream. If you prefer taking your cannabis oil orally and are looking for quick results, then tinctures offers a superior route to edibles.
5. Vaping
Vaping is a novel way of heating cannabis without allowing it to reach a combustion state. This allows the cannabinoids in the cannabis to be released without the other effects of combustion.
If you prefer to avoid smoking your cannabis, vaping is an option you may consider. When you vape cannabis, the cannabinoids reach the bloodstream immediately. The bioavailability of cannabinoids is also high in vapor form.
Vaping is also discreet. So, you can carry your cannabis-infused vape oil anywhere and vape it anytime without worrying about the smell.
6. Smoking
Everyone is familiar with smoking cannabis, as this is the most common and traditional means of taking cannabis. Smoking gives almost instant results as the cannabis passes the lungs with air directly into the bloodstream.
Smoking offers results in less than ten minutes, and the bioavailability of cannabinoids is almost 60%. Besides the advantages of smoking cannabis, experts advise against smoking due to the side effects of combustion.
What’s the point?
Cannabis contains anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties that can be useful in relieving different types of pain. This means that cannabis oil can benefit people with chronic pain as well as acute pain resulting from muscle strain.
