Chronic health conditions that cause symptoms of chronic pain can be extremely hard to deal with. It can seem that no matter how hard you try, there are no drugs or treatment plans that yield any real improvement in your overall quality of life or ability to abate the pain.
As a result, sufferers of conditions like arthritis, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, back pain and fibromyalgia often end up flitting from one treatment to another without much success. This can lead to a deep sense of desperation and resignation that one is going to have to put up with the bad hand that life has dealt them for the rest of their life.
If you suffer from a condition that causes chronic pain, the situation described above may sound familiar. But in the search for something to help control the symptoms, you may have stumbled across CBD. Nowadays, there are plenty of accounts claiming that cannabidiol (CBD), a previously little-known compound that is extracted from the cannabis plant, can help manage pain.
In this post, we take a deeper look into why so many people are turning to the best CBD oil uk, and how it might be able to help you with your pain.
What Is CBD?
CBD is a cannabinoid compound that occurs naturally in the cannabis plant. It makes up just one of the 113 different cannabinoids that are present in abundance in these plants of which THC is probably the best known.
Famous for being responsible for the ‘high’ loved by recreational cannabis users, THC is a psychoactive substance that has been banned in many countries until relatively recently.
While CBD operates on the body in a similar way to THC through something known as the endocannabinoid system, it has none of the same psychoactive properties and is not known to impair cognition in any way. To find the best CBD oil available online, cbdcomparisons.com and other comparisons sites are the place to start your search.
The Endocannabinoid System
Understanding how CBD may be able to help with chronic pain depends on a basic understanding of the endocannabinoid system and its role in the body. Discovered in the early 1990s by a group of scientists looking into the effects of cannabis on the body, the endocannabinoid system is made up of a network of neuroreceptors located in the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system and around the body.
As research into the endocannabinoid system has advanced, it has become apparent that it plays a significant role in maintaining a healthy balance and state of homeostasis with the body of all mammalian species. Among the broad range of bodily functions that it is known to help regulate are pain, inflammation, appetite, anxiety, metabolism, sleep, memory, mood, immune function and reproductive function. This makes endocannabinoids some of the most common and versatile neurotransmitters known to science.
The Effects of CBD on the Endocannabinoid System
As mentioned before, the endocannabinoid system is made up of receptors (CB1 and CB2). These receptors are hypersensitive to the cannabinoids that are produced naturally in almost all the cells of the body. The discovery of the existence of these cannabinoids made quite a stir in the scientific world when it transpired that they are very similar in chemical composition to the cannabinoids that are found in abundance in the cannabis plant.
Although the endocannabinoid system is still somewhat of a mystery to medical science, there is growing interest in the effects of introducing cannabinoids from the cannabis plant on the body’s capacity to regulate its various bodily functions.
As research has advanced, it has come to light that some people may have underlying deficiencies in their endocannabinoid systems. It is thought that such deficiencies may provide some explanation for general ill health as well as the emergence of a wide range of chronic conditions.
The theory behind the health benefits of taking CBD lies in its purported ability to stimulate the endocannabinoid receptors in the body. By doing this, it is thought that the system not only becomes more active in the short term but is also strengthened in the long term.
How Can CBD Alleviate Pain Symptoms?
One of the bodily functions the endocannabinoid system works on is pain. By activating the receptors in this system, CBD may be able to inhibit the way that pain is felt by sufferers of a variety of conditions.
Although research in this area is still relatively new, there is some good evidence to suggest that CBD may prove to be a significant breakthrough in the treatment of pain. Both animal studies and clinical human trials have produced extremely promising results that pave the way for CBD to play an increasingly important role in pain management strategies for sufferers of osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, and other autoimmune conditions.
Conclusion
CBD has been legalized in many countries around the world and can now be bought over the counter. This availability has opened the door for a growing number of people suffering from chronic pain to begin using it to manage their symptoms.
Many of these people are now reporting that CBD is providing them with significant relief. Since CBD has none of the unwelcome side effects of traditional pain medication, it is not difficult to see why there is such a buzz around a supplement that very few had even heard of just a few years ago.
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