How CBD Can Help People With Neuropathic Pain
Neuropathic pain occurs when you have an injury or infection that damages your nerves. If you often have pins-and-needles sensations, burning sensations, or aches, you may be dealing with this type of pain.
People with a wide variety of conditions can experience neuropathic pain, such people with multiple sclerosis or diabetes. Treating the root cause of neuropathic pain may eliminate it, but unfortunately many people with neuropathic pain may have chronic conditions that require pain management.
If you are looking for a way to manage your pain, you may want to try cannabidiol (CBD). Read on to learn more about CBD and its advantages to other analgesics.
Is CBD the Same As Marijuana?
CBD is a chemical compound that’s extracted from hemp plants. While it is derived from the marijuana plant, CBD doesn’t contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the chemical component that causes the high of marijuana.
How Does CBD Help With Neuropathic Pain?
One study showed that CBD was able to suppress neuropathic pain since it affected glycine receptors. Glycine receptors are a type of channel that mediate the passage of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers that can transmit signals to and from nerve cells.
Since glycine receptors are mainly involved in pain perception, the fact that CBD can target and suppress these receptors could be enough to control your symptoms.
What Are Some Advantages of CBD Over Other Pain Relievers?
While the obvious advantage of CBD is that it may relieve your neuropathic pain, CBD has additional advantages compared to other analgesics.
It’s Not Addictive
Because neuropathic pain can be chronic, one problem people may face is addiction to opioids or other strong pain-relief medication. However, because CBD doesn’t contain THC, you shouldn’t experience a high or be prone to addiction. In fact, one study showed that people who took CBD were able to curb withdrawals and anxiety when they were trying to come off of a drug addiction.
There’s Fewer Side Effects
One problem you may face when searching for analgesics is finding a medication without side effects. CBD is a fairly safe product; if you use it topically, it won’t enter the bloodstream.
Side effects like fatigue, diarrhea, and weight or appetite changes are possible, but these types of risks may be may be preferable to the side effects of other painkillers. Of course, you should consult with your doctor to make sure that CBD is safe for your condition and won’t interfere with your current medications.
There’s Flexibility in How You Take It
Other analgesics may have limits in how they can be administered. With CBD, you have the option of oils, edibles, sprays, lozenges, and lotions.
This flexibility has advantages. For example, if your pain comes on suddenly and you need relief right away, you could opt for products that absorb under your tongue. These types of CBD products act more quickly than others since they don’t have to be broken down by the liver or digestive tract.
If you get an upset stomach easily because of your condition, then instead of ingesting the CBD, you could opt for a salve or lotion. Some people with neuropathic pain are extremely sensitive to touch, so instead of using a topical, you could opt for a spray or edible. It Could Help People with Co-Morbidities or Other Types of Pain
While your condition may cause neuropathic pain specifically, you may be prone to other pain-related symptoms.
For instance, people with autoimmune diseases may experience neuropathic pain, but they may also experience pain inflammatory pain, like arthritis. Thankfully, CBD not only relieves neuropathic pain, but inflammatory pain as well.
Because neuropathic pain can be chronic, some people may have taxed mental and emotional states from dealing with their illness day in and day out. If your neuropathic pain has caused you immense stress, CBD may be able to help you manage stress-related behavior, such as insomnia or anxiety.