Excerpt by Nina Julia

CBD oil has become increasingly popular as a health and wellness supplement. One of the main reasons people are interested in trying CBD oil is because of its pain-killing benefits.

The ability for CBD to help with pain is a significant advantage over conventional pain management options — which often involve addictive and potentially harmful medications. Instead, this natural supplement has very few side effects and an exceptional safety profile — all without compromising on effectiveness.

How does all of this relate to pain? The answer lies in the way pain is transmitted to the brain.

When we injure ourselves, cells in the immediate vicinity begin releasing compounds that trigger a cascade of inflammation and sensory activation — which is what triggers the pain transmission.

The pain signal is then sent to the spinal cord through a network of nerves distributed all around the body.

Once in the spine, the pain signal is sent through a gateway (opioid and vanilloid receptors) designed to limit the amount of signal that ends up in the brain for processing. This works like a border crossing. The border security decides whether or not you’re allowed to enter and what you can take with you.

In the context of pain, these gateways can limit the amount of pain signal that continues across the border to the brain. If more pain signal is allowed to pass, the brain perceives more pain. If the pain is stopped at the border, the brain perceives less pain.

Conventional pain medications work by activating the opioid receptors acting as a key gateway for pain transmission to the brain.

CBD has a similar effect, but through a different receptor is known as the vanilloid receptors. These vanilloid receptors are tasked with regulating a specific form of pain caused by either heat or inflammation. CBD has been reported to modulate this vanilloid receptor — leading to a reduction in the pain signals sent to the brain from inflammatory causes such as arthritis, muscle damage, or infection, to name a few.

CBD has other ways it can limit pain transmission as well:

• CBD may reduce inflammation, limiting the initial cause of pain in the body
• CBD acts as an antioxidant, helping the body resist and recover from damage
• CBD relaxes muscle fibers, reducing pain caused by muscle spasms and tightness

More research is needed to fully understand how CBD and other active cannabinoids can block pain.

CBD Oil for Chronic Back & Nerve Pain

Even though more clinical trials are needed to gauge how CBD affects specific forms of pain or other conditions, scientists believe the efficacy of CBD in treating chronic pain is related to its anti-inflammatory effects.

CBD Oil for Arthritis

By reducing the underlying causes of arthritis pain, CBD is thought to reduce the overall burden of pain from the condition over the long term.

CBD and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Pain

Due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, CBD is a potent neuroprotective — which is how experts believe CBD is able to relieve debilitating MS pain, —which affects roughly 50–70% of patients diagnosed with the condition.

CBD Oil in Sports: Injuries & Muscle Endurance

Cannabidiol can be applied in two different ways when it comes to pain and physical activities. For example, when you administer CBD orally in the form of oil as a post-workout, it helps alleviate the muscle inflammation that troubles athletes once they go beyond the edge again.

If, however, you’re suffering from an injury, it’s best to apply CBD topically. Its anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties allow the cannabinoid to relieve pain and improve regeneration capacities.

Summary: CBD Oil For Pain

As CBD becomes more popular around the world, scientists are publishing new research on cannabinoids on a near-weekly basis. As time goes on, experts are mapping out the complicated mechanisms CBD and other hemp derivatives are using to support both acute and chronic pain of all different origins.

Here are the main takeaways from the current research:

• CBD inhibits inflammation at several different levels
• CBD offers antioxidant support
• CBD may relieve muscle tension and inflammation
• CBD interacts with the vanilloid receptors in the brain responsible for regulating inflammatory pain transmission

When it comes to pain, CBD appears to target the cause of the problem instead of just masking its symptoms.

Getting relief on so many levels and without any harmful side effects or risk of addiction is the reason why CBD oil has become so popular over the past half a decade.