
Arthritis affects up to 54 million Americans every year and can be a debilitating condition for those most impacted. You may associate the disease with swollen, red joints and you may be absolutely right. There are over 100 types of arthritis, each with its own unpleasant causes and features.
In most cases, the condition causes uncomfortable pain, and in others, it creates significant areas of inflammation in the body – both of which are strong rationales towards the CBD and its many benefits.
In this article, we take a closer look at the causes of arthritis. Bearing in mind the possible disturbing outcomes (some cases have to be resolved by surgery), it is essential to gather as much information as possible. Fortunately, CBD, such as JIBE’s CBD Oil may be able to help.
What Is Arthritis?
- About 54 million adult Americans are diagnosed with arthritis
- 300,000 children are affected by it
- It is more prevalent in women than in men
- Most common types include degenerative arthritis, inflammatory, infectious, and metabolic arthritis.
Their causes can be genetic or brought on by the environment, (un)healthy habits, stress, weight, other diseases, repetitive actions, and so on. Osteoarthritis is the most common type, which normally appears with age, and cannabis cream for arthritis is often used as a help to reduce the symptoms by rubbing it into sore points.
Still, there are types of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is basically an autoimmune disease. In short, your body creates inflammations over the whole body, not just joints. Thus, arthritis can affect the liver or kidneys, for instance.
What Is CBD?
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of two main cannabinoids in the cannabis plant. No, it is not psychoactive in the least, and it negates the psychoactive effect of THC, its counterpart. While people have known about cannabis and how to use CBD oil for pain and other ailments for centuries, only recently has science made enough progress to unveil its qualities and interpret them properly. After all, THC and CBD were discovered not so long ago.
CBD oil can be found in many forms including CBD Tinctures, CBD Gummies, and CBD Softgels, but in essence, it is CBD, a substance obtained from the resins of the plant, mixed with some carrier oil (coconut, hemp seed, pumpkin, olive oil). How to make CBD oil is fairly easy to answer, and it’s very convenient to use.
Is CBD oil good for arthritis? Considering the long CBD oil benefits list (an excellent aid when it comes to treating acne, injuries (even surgical ones), cancer, opioid addiction, nausea, diabetes, vomiting, loss of appetite, and lots of other conditions), we can say the answer is positive and hardly surprising.
If you’re looking for more information on what CBD is and its benefits, we encourage you to check out our article “What is CBD, and How Can It Help Me” on the JIBE Blog.
How CBD for Arthritis Can Help
What interests us the most regarding arthritis are CBD’s:
- Pain-relieving properties
- Anti-inflammatory properties
- Anxiety reducing
- Insomnia benefits.
Basically, what is known as “CBD oil for arthritis” should help with all of these. Pain caused by arthritis usually comes from bones that are grinding against one another because the connecting tissue between them is missing, thus leading to inflammation of the rubbing parts. The liquid lubricating the joint may also be missing in the case of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), when the body stops producing it.
As it is an autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis can damage eyes, lungs, and heart — all of them may be in need of something the body has stopped delivering. Medical marijuana for rheumatoid arthritis is quite a hot topic as the disease can be very severe.
Obviously, pain and inflammation are very much intertwined. Pain accompanies inflammation sooner or later. In addition, anxiety and insomnia are common enough among people suffering from arthritis, too.
Here are some examples of how CBD oil reaped success in dealing with these arthritis symptoms.
CBD Oil for Arthritis Pain
While pain meds are infamous for their side effects, research on arthritis treatment with CBD oil for pain showed the research subjects (in this case, rats) exhibited favorable behavior after they were given CBD. No side effects were present, and they seemed to be free of pain at least.
CBD topical was used for the treatment. This kind of treatment also seemed best compared to CBD pills, for instance, because it enables greater bioavailability.
Not only does CBD oil for arthritis pain prevent pain from occurring, but it does so through blocking the nerve damage. In Canadian research of OA (osteoarthritis), the joint neuropathic pain was successfully dealt with. CBD was applied topically.
CBD oil inhibits neuropathic pain as well. It is believed that CBD affects the sore spot and the central nervous system at the same time, interfering with its pain signals.
CBD Oil for Inflammation
A study from 2011 clearly proved how some atypical cannabinoid receptors can be of help in treating inflammatory pain. The results could inspire further research on topical CBD oil for arthritis. Essentially, Cannabidiol reacts with our endocannabinoid system and inspires it to be more active.
European Journal of Pain confirmed in a study that applying CBD to the skin lowers inflammation and pain caused by arthritis.
The exact relation of the endocannabinoid system and arthritis is yet to be established, though. If we knew more about it, it would be easier to explain how exactly CBD oil for rheumatoid arthritis works and perhaps inspire the production of CBD meds specifically for this disease.
Either way, what is important for all patients who are prescribed medical marijuana is that they are more interested in results than the exact details of what it does.
CBD Oil for Anxiety
Imagine if you had to deal with frequent pain. Or that your movements are so slow and difficult that you need some kind of a walking aid. Everybody around you does things with ease, while you need concentration and effort. This is why some people turn to cannabis for arthritis and anxiety.
CBD oil could be an even better choice than cannabis oil or smoking cannabis, for instance, as THC can potentially increase anxiety levels. CBD does so through its effect on the endocannabinoid system. Moreover, it has beneficial effects on hippocampal neurogenesis, whose impact is smaller in people suffering from anxiety and depression.
Nevertheless, too much CBD, and you may end up with worsened anxiety symptoms, so be careful about CBD dosage.
CBD Oil for Insomnia
Cannabis for rheumatoid arthritis is in high demand. Falling asleep with chronic pain can be extremely challenging as the pain can last for hours, interfering with one’s sleep. Our body needs sleep to help its recovery process every single day, making it even more important if one’s joints and body are deteriorating due to arthritis.
CBD’s calming effect helps to drift off. CBD edibles are especially recommendable for the purpose.
How to Use CBD Oil for Arthritis
Many people believe that the best CBD for anxiety is consumed sublingually as a CBD Tincture. This means that you take a tincture and drop it under your tongue. After letting it sit for about a minute, you swallow. This allows the CBD to absorb into the sublingual blood vessels under your tongue. Because of the highest efficacy, JIBE produces two strengths of CBD Tincture, a 1500 mg CBD Tincture which has 50 mg per mL, and an incredibly potent 3000 mg CBD Tincture which has 100 mg per mL.
You will often hear that arthritis is usually treated with some form of CBD lotion or a patch. The advantage of this approach is increased bioavailability. Namely, CBD does not go through the digestive system as it does via pills, vape sprays, edibles, etc. The expected time to kick in is about 10 minutes.
Best CBD oil for arthritis may come in the form of CBD gummies for pain or other edibles, which is a way to ease insomnia and chronic pain during sleep. How long does it take for CBD oil to work in this case? The cannabinoid is released slowly, but its effects may last for hours.
Vaporizers will give you an instant dose of CBD. Dropping oil under your tongue (sublingual application) allows a few minutes before CBD enters your bloodstream.
So which type of CBD oil for arthritis should be your pick? The tricky part is that it varies from person to person. It depends on what medications you are using (if any), whether you have the early stage of arthritis so you don’t have any insomnia issues, and many other individual factors.
If you’re looking for more information on dosing, we encoruage you to take a look at our “CBD Consumption Guide” on the JIBE Blog.
Potential Issues
As usual, here’s a word or two on CBD oil content, CBD oil legal status, and FDA approval.
- CBD oil for arthritis is not FDA-approved
Though Sativex was said to be helpful in treating arthritis pain, conclusive evidence is yet to be seen. So far, no CBD oil has been defined by the FDA as designed for arthritis.
- CBD oil quality can vary
Always read the label carefully. Despite the saturation of the market with CBD products, not all of them can vouch for the content.
- CBD vs THC
While CBD is not psychoactive, THC certainly has that feature. CBD oil can be full spectrum or pure oil. The first one has a certain CBD-THC ratio. Marijuana for arthritis pain may not be your thing if marijuana oil makes you uncomfortable.
- Legal status
The 2018 Farm Bill ensures that any cannabinoid- a set of chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant- that is derived from hemp will be legal, if and only if that hemp is produced in a manner consistent with the Farm Bill. The 2018 Farm Bill defines hemp as Cannabis sativa L and “any part of the plant, including seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomer acids, salts and salts od isomers”, with no more than a 0.3% concentration of THC.
What About My Pet?
CBD oil for dogs with arthritis is a huge hit. There has been quite a number of cases of pet owners stating CBD oil has done wonders for their pet. The market is certainly overflowing with pet products promising to help the doggo in need.
At the moment, research about CBD oil for pets is even more scarce than it is for humans. The future looks pretty bright, though.
Conclusion
If you have the disease, can CBD oil for arthritis help you? The research is limited but offers high hopes. All things considered, this option is definitely worth looking into. Perhaps science does not know yet how to explain all the processes which take place in our body due to CBD, but it’s definitely worth a shot.
In any case, CBD has the ability to help with at least four arthritis symptoms. Whether some CBD oil or marijuana cream for arthritis can help to reverse the damaging process remains to be investigated.