The Many Benefits of CBD for Pain Relief

Each year in the United States, August 8 brings National CBD Day, designed to increase awareness about this hemp-based compound. From pain relief to reducing anxiety, CBD is fast gaining acceptance as an alternative approach to a wide range of medical conditions.

Since the primary focus here at Commonwealth Pain and Spine is pain management, our team has studied the role that CBD in hemp oil plays in relieving pain, and we’ve concluded that CBD offers some key benefits — here’s our review.

A natural approach to pain management

One of the best benefits of CBD is that it works with your body’s natural systems, namely your endocannabinoid system (ECS). Your ECS is a complex, cell-signaling network that influences several areas, including:

• Mood
• Inflammation
• Sleep
• Appetite
• Pain perception

Your ECS system contains three primary components: endocannabinoids, receptors, and enzymes. First, your body produces endocannabinoid molecules as needed, which bind to receptors in your central and peripheral nervous systems. Once the endocannabinoids accomplish their tasks, the enzymes break down the endocannabinoids.

With hemp oil, we introduce cannabidiol, which mimics your endocannabinoids in stimulating your ECS. In other words, hemp oil is a great way to boost a natural system already found in your body.

Managing pain and more

When we introduce CBD through hemp oil, our goal is to activate the receptors in your central and peripheral nervous systems to reduce pain. In addition, CBD can also tackle inflammation, one of the primary culprits behind pain.

As an added bonus, since CBD binds with receptors in your brain, it can also help to better regulate mood. All too often, people who are dealing with chronic pain develop depression and/or anxiety, and CBD can work toward pain management and better mood regulation at the same time.

Hemp oil isn’t the same as marijuana

If you're concerned about “using drugs,” we assure you that hemp oil isn’t the same as marijuana. The cannabis plant contains two main ingredients — CBD and THC. The THC piece of the puzzle is the psychoactive component, and hemp oil contains only CBD, which means you won’t get “high” using hemp oil.

Also, there’s no risk of addiction with CBD, which can’t be said of opioid-based painkillers.

Ultimately, we’ve found that hemp-derived CBD can play a part in pain management with very few risks.

If you’d like to learn more about using hemp oil to manage your pain, please make an appointment with one of our pain management experts at a location near you. We have offices in St. Matthews, Elizabethtown, Lexington, Crestview Hills, Owensboro, and London, Kentucky. Indiana offices are in Evansville, Vincennes, New Albany, Carrollton, and Jasper. We also serve patients in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.