It is common for everyone to feel occasional aches and pain in one or the other part of the body, the reason behind these aches can be various. Sensation of pain and aches is a reaction of nervous system, a part of mechanism of our body that tells and warns us that something is wrong. Usually the sensation of pain accompanies an injury and as the injury heals the sensation becomes less severe and less intense. However, chronic pain is different. It may last for prolonged periods (from at least 12 weeks up to several years) even after complete recovery from the injury. Chronic pain makes it challenging and difficult to get through daily tasks and activities. Often, the pain may feel sharp or dull and cause a burning sensation in the affected area. Moreover, chronic pain often leaves the patient dealing with certain mental health issues. Common types of chronic pain include; post trauma pain, Lower back pain, arthritis pain. Interested in getting your medical marijuana card in Florida?

There is no absolute of medication for certain types of pain, and mostly the relieving treatments often cause side effects. Opium based drugs or opiates work well in the case of acute pain but they have side effects like nausea and sedation which are likely to become a problem for patients in long term use. Moreover, people with chronic pain often develop tolerance to opiates over months and years so they must increase the dosage.

CBD have show promising results in treating chronic pain. Cannabinoids are the chemical found in Cannabis, commonly known as Marijuana. The most notable cannabinoid is phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol(THC). The marijuana plant contains more than 100 different chemicals called cannabinoids. Each one has a different effect on the body. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the main chemicals used in medicine. THC also produces the “high” people feel when they smoke marijuana or eat foods containing it. Cannabinoids helps in reducing anxiety, reduce inflammation and pain and relax tight muscles. It is found in research that cannabinoids appear to block the peripheral nerve pain in experimental animals. Peripheral nerves are the nerves that detect pain sensations and contain abundant receptors for cannabinoids. Moreover, the pain suppressing mechanism of medical marijuana is different from that of opiates.  

The cannabinoid which are generally used as pain reliever are similar to certain chemicals that naturally occur in the body, hence when smoked or inhaled or taken in any other way, it stimulates the receptors. This further activates the brains reward system and reduces pain levels. However, this also produces certain side effects, like short-term memory, dry mouth, impaired motor skills and reddening of the eyes. On the contrary, the other compound, CBD does not has these side effects but works well to exert pain- relieving and anti inflammatory effects.

Many studies have looked at the effects of marijuana for chronic pain. For the study of different actions, different parts of the plant are used but when it is used as a whole the effect is rather better. This is known as the Entourage effect, when different components work together to have more effect parts. A 2015 review of research on the use of marijuana and cannabinoids for various chronic pain conditions reports that several trials had positive results. The researchers suggest that marijuana or cannabinoids may be effective for treating some types of chronic pain including neuropathy (nerve pain). However, there is still a need for more research into the area of marijuana use for chronic pain, especially into the use of different strains, dosages, and methods of delivery. Get Started.