Easing the Aches: Why Cannabis Topicals Have Become a Go-To for Pain Relief
Pain relief has always been one of the primary reasons customers seek out cannabis topicals made by Mary Jane’s Medicinals.
Our very first product was a salve I created to help soothe sore muscles in my massage clients. And over the years, our valued customers have shared with us plenty of anecdotal evidence about how our products have provided them serious pain relief.
For example, one woman wrote to tell us: “It is a miracle product. It takes the pain away so I can sleep.” Hearing testimonials such as this and knowing we are helping improve people’s quality of life in such tangible ways is a major motivating factor for me and the Mary Jane’s Medicinals team.
Scientists are delving into the links between cannabis topicals and pain relief, explaining what we’ve been seeing ourselves for years. In a 2016 report published in the European Journal of Pain, researchers studied rats with arthritis to see if the cannabis compound cannabidiol (CBD) would help them. The researchers applied a CBD gel every day for four days. They found the gel “significantly reduced joint swelling, limb posture scores as a rating of spontaneous pain [and showed] … immune cell infiltration. … Topical CBD application has therapeutic potential for relief of arthritis pain-related behaviours and inflammation without evident side-effects.”
At Mary Jane’s Medicinals, we provide a lot more than CBD in our topicals, so the effects can be even more noticeable.
A 2011 academic review published in the Journal of Pain Research looked at findings for various types of topicals and their impact on pain. Researchers stated: “The topical administration of selective cannabinoid receptor agents has been demonstrated to have analgesic effects in animal models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain … especially for the control of breakthrough pain.”
If you need help translating that, our bodies contain an endocannabinoid system (ECS) that keeps us in balance, controlling pain, temperature and other functions. Cannabis molecules reach receptors in the ECS to help desensitize pain receptors and decrease inflammation. You can learn more in our blog post about how topical cannabis products work.
Why is reducing inflammation important? Because much of the pain of arthritis is caused by inflammation, and cannabis-infused topicals have potential for relief. Other studies have shown topicals are also excellent for localized pain relief, allowing you to get directly to the source of your pain, rather than waiting for the active ingredient in a pill to make its way through your entire body.
As marijuana legalization picks up steam across the nation, more physical therapists and doctors are open to the option of cannabis-infused topicals. In an article in Shape Magazine, Dr. Gregory Gerdeman, a neurophysiologist, advised readers, “When it comes to cannabis-based topicals for muscle soreness or other pain relief, there’s absolutely no reason why it should be a big deal to try.”
Another reason you can trust Mary Jane’s Medicinals products is that every ingredient in our salves, lotions and oils comes from natural sources, starting with cannabis grown with organic methods. And since topicals don’t get into the bloodstream, you don’t need to worry about psychoactive effects.
While there’s been a good start to medical studies that look at marijuana topicals for pain, we definitely look forward to getting the results of more research in this area, especially on humans. In the meantime, we’ll just keep listening to our happy customers as they experience the healing potential of Mary Jane’s Medicinals topicals.