Can CBD Oil be used for Treating Back Pain?
Back pain is something that most Americans have to deal with on a daily basis. The human spine is made of many complex components that are easily susceptible to different types of minor injuries. Such injuries can become really difficult to manage and treat due to chronic back pain. More and more people these days tend to skip going to work and carry out other professional responsibilities due to severe back pain. There are numerous alternatives that are recently being considered for the treatment of back pain, one of them being CBD oil.
Visiting the emergency room in a clinic or in a hospital due to chronic back pain is no longer a rarity. In fact the type of strain that chronic back pain can have on the economy is quite astounding. The American chiropractic Association states that millions of dollars are spent by people on the treatment of back pain every single day.
Back pain can in fact be regarded as a major cause for disability in people all over the world. There are huge numbers of people who do not play an active role in the economic life of the country they live in because of their struggle with chronic back pain. While such pain usually tends to be ignored due to its minor nature, the repercussions of dealing with an entire nation suffering from back pain can turn out to be quite severe and is something that definitely needs to be averted.
What is the Problem with Opioids
One of the most common ways of dealing with back pain apart from suffering it in silence is to turn to the use of prescription drugs. This is something that has resulted in opioid use and deaths all over the country of America. Medical professionals have been prescribing the use of opioids for a good number of years now without actually knowing about the true side effects of using such drugs. While opioids were previously deployed as a form of palliative care, it is now the standard medicine used for treating back pain. Statistics in 2014 revealed that more than two million people suffer from opioid use in America. While doctors can of course cancel or forbid the use of these prescription drugs, it does not mean that those already using such drugs will discontinue their use. People have been seen to source opioids in desperation on the streets and black market for drug use is now in existence. CBD oil therefore seems like a more viable and healthier alternative for the treatment of back pain.
Research on the Use of CBD Oil for Treating Back Pain
Cannabidiol or CBD is now being studied as a potential and useful alternative to chronic pain medication. The research at present is comprised primarily of pre-clinical trials. While human trials in this area are not really conducted on a large scale, the research carried out so far seems to suggest that CBD has some strong therapeutic benefits that can help with or bring about pain relief.
The National Institute of Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse carried out a study on the treatment of neuropathic pain and inflammation in rats with the help of CBD. What the study showed was a significant reduction in chronic inflammation, something that was achieved without developing any kind of tolerance to CBD application. A review that came out in the year 2014 clearly indicated how CBD could serve as an extremely viable alternative to prescription drugs when it came to pain relief, especially for treating neuropathic pain. According to this study, neuropathic pain occurs when the original injury disappears but the pain caused by the injury continues to persist. This happens mainly because nerves keep sending pain messages much after initial issue.
Ameritox carried out a study in which it was discovered that patients who use a prescription drug called Hydrocodone for pain relief are less likely to rely on its use if they start using CBD instead. Hydrocodone is a standard form of pain medication that induces dependency in those who consume it and this research showed how people who take weed or marijuana are not too likely to take recourse to it, thereby establishing how marijuana can really be a potent pain killer.
Synthetic cannabinoids have been used for pain relief in many different European countries for quite some time now, a good example in this regard being a product that is known as Sativex. Research shows that Sativex provides significant relief from pain when compared to placebos and without inducing in people the need to increase its dose beyond the standard 52 weeks of its use. It is therefore a much better way to treat pain than using opioids, as the latter can be so highly addictive.
How should CBD Oil be dosed for Back Pain?
The risk of addiction is what essentially differentiates CBD oil from other types of prescription medication for pain relief. CBD can be safely used by people suffering from pain, over a long period of time, and there are no dangerous or severe side effects that are associated with its use.
The standard procedure that needs to be followed to determine the perfect CBD oil dose for back pain, is a threefold one. The first step is to start out slow as by starting at a high dose you may just end up wasting such valuable medicine. The perfect amount of CBD oil for pain relief is something that is likely to vary from one person to another. When you do begin to increase the CBD oil dose, you need to do so very slowly. Finally you should exercise patience. CBD oil will not provide you with the instant pain relief commonly brought about by pain killers. There is a lot of patience that you need to exercise to get the CBD dose right.
If you are looking to use CBD oil for back pain treatment you can begin by taking 2.5 milligrams of CBD a day. This can later be increased to 20 mg a day until you begin to notice changes in symptoms. It may take you as long as a month to witness the beneficial effects of CBD fully.