CBD and chronic pain
Reducing pain with CBD
We have all experienced pain, big or small. This pain may have lasted a few minutes or hours, maybe even a few days. A cut, a burn, a headache, a fracture, childbirth, the intensity of a pain is very variable. A treatment with pain medication and there it goes. Unfortunately, in some people, the pain stays and does not go away, it lasts for several months or even years, it is then called chronic pain.
Even if it is not pleasant, and is often feared, pain has a very important, and in some cases even vital, function. It alerts us, warns us that something is not normal. When our body detects a problem, an injury, an illness, it triggers a message of pain to warn us. It prevents us from over-injuring ourselves, or letting a disease develop. For example, do not lean on a broken leg, remove a splinter before the wound gets infected, go see a doctor for back pain, etc. Defining pain is complicated, we all have the same mechanism, but each of us lives it a little differently. For the same injury, 2 people can have opposite behaviors. We all have in our entourage a person who does not seem to be concerned by the effects of pain and who never fills up, while another in the same circumstances would not even stand upright anymore.
Unpleasant or unbearable, how to define pain ?
- A physical sensation : it hurts here, more or less strongly. We also know what kind of pain it is. (burn, cut, sting, etc.)
- An emotion : it's unpleasant, it hurts, it's unbearable, etc.
- A cognitive reaction : our behavior adapts to the pain we encounter. We adopt pain postures. Our brain tells us what behaviour we adopt in relation to past painful experiences.
Once the thorny situation is over, we take care of ourselves or go to the doctor. A pain treatment, and soon the effects of the pain will only be a bad memory. Yes, but not necessarily for everyone, not for people with chronic pain.
Chronic pain
When the painful sensation persists in time for more than 3 months, it is said to be chronic. It is an extremely incapacitating disease, whose consequences are organic and psychological.organic: because it can cause secondary arterial hypertension, but also muscular melting.psychological: because the pain causes psychological fatigue, which can lead to depression.
Pain and CBD
CBD (cannabidiol) is a member of the cannabinoid family, a substance derived from hemp (Cannabis Sativa). When we talk about cannabis, we have to understand that we are talking about a family of plants, of which there are mainly 3 varieties :
- Cannabis Indica, which is rich in THC, and therefore very psychotropic if absorbed
- Cannabis Sativa, very rich in CBD and with less than 0.2% THC. It is also called industrial hemp. It is used for its oil, but also for its fibers in a multitude of products ranging from hemp oil to CBD to car hoods.
- Cannabis Ruderalis, low in CBD and THC
Only industrial hemp (Cannabis Sativa) is legal in France, because it contains less than 0.2% THC. For years, a large number of researches have highlighted the effects of CBD on health. Regarding chronic pain, some patients use CBD successfully to relieve their body. Cannabidiol is known to be a natural anti-inflammatory, it is particularly effective in the treatment of pain, as it reduces inflammation. An American study of the Temple University of Philadelphia in mice showed that CBD is useful in the treatment of certain forms of pain. In general, CBD will help reduce or relieve pain associated with certain diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and other chronic pain-related conditions.