Back pain is a widespread disease that normally resolves within a few weeks. However, for some, it is not so and one must resort to drugs. Let’s take a closer look at cannabis as an alternative to opiates and surgery to treat back pain.
Do you suffer from back pain?
If you suffer from back pain, you can be sure you are not alone. According to an analysis, “540 million people in the world” suffer from lower back pain. But back pain is not reduced to low back pain or pain in the lower back. A large number of people are also afflicted by pain in their upper back and / or hips.
Back pain is probably the main cause of disability in the world, and scientific evidence shows that the phenomenon has been on the rise since the 1990s. For most people, this is a sudden and transient health problem that passes by itself. Unfortunately, someone is caught with recurrent episodes or even chronic and persistent back pain.
The good news is that cannabis is increasingly recognized and recommended by medical professionals as an effective treatment. Just think of the United States and Canada: New York has allowed patients suffering from back pain to access the state program for therapeutic marijuana since 2016.
Furthermore, the latest figures reported by the WHO indicate that around 2.5% of the world’s population, or 147 million people, resort to cannabis. This number is expected to grow significantly, with more and more people interested in using therapeutic cannabis to treat their back pains.
COMMON CAUSES AND KIND OF BACK PAIN
The Mayo Clinic defines a back pain lasting less than 6 weeks as “acute”, while the pain that persists for 3 months or more is considered “chronic”. Simple or “mechanical” back pain is considered the most common type. “This means that the pain is not linked to other more serious diseases and there are no nerve blockages or compressions,” according to a statement by the British Chiropractic Association.
Age, physical deterioration, poor posture, and stress can result in simpler forms of back pain. More serious back pain may be due to nerve block and herniated disc. Sports injuries, falls, missteps and accidents are among the most common causes. A pain that develops along the legs is a possible symptom of sciatica. However, back pain can be caused by more serious conditions, such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Surgery is the last resort, but sometimes it is inevitable, whether or not you are using cannabis to treat your pain.
HOW CANNABIS IS HELP
Cannabis has been used as a healing remedy for centuries. Anecdotal evidence from millions of cannabis users demonstrates the pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties of this sacred herb. With the spread of the legalization of cannabis, today we can go more specifically. At the moment we have at our disposal concrete medical tests on the therapeutic efficacy of cannabis. Patients suffering from cannabis treatment in the United States also include those suffering from back pain. Not only that, but we can also say that cannabis is the most sought-after natural medicine, compared to the pain kits of large pharmaceutical companies.
Cannabinoids, once again, are the key to effective treatment. We already know that THC and CBD play different roles: THC is best known for its ability to improve mood and, if you suffer from depression-related back pain, a THC-rich Sativa may be enough to help you react and make you feel better.
Similarly, CBD-rich cannabis, or CBD oil, although not psychoactive, is renowned for its ability to relieve physical pain and discomfort. If combined, both of these cannabinoids act synergistically according to the “entourage effect” theory. Some patients will benefit more or less from different combinations, since the endocannabinoid system, or ECS, is unique in each of us. The basic question is that the herb is still an effective therapy. And it’s not just us who say it. In 2017, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) confirmed this.
Inhaling cannabis via spinel or vaporizer will give an immediate feeling of pain relief. Ingesting edible may be more suitable for certain types of pain that require more lasting effects.
CANNABIS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO OCEANS
Pain management after surgery could bring to mind apocalyptic scenarios in which you slowly slip into opiate addiction. Just one day of consumption of opiate painkillers, regularly prescribed, to increase by 6% the risk of finding yourself, a year later, still enmeshed with this type of pills, at least according to an in-depth study by the CDC which lasted from 2006 to 2015.
Cannabis is not an addictive substance, certainly not to opiate levels. Many patients, from all walks of life or social class, prefer to resort to cannabis to relieve back pain. Professional athletes who suffer the most damage during their activity are almost certainly those who do contact sports, such as MMA and American football and, for this reason, they are among the greatest supporters of this natural therapy.
TO CONCLUDE ON CANNABIS AND BACK PAIN
We all saw Nate Diaz take a puff from his pen vaporizer for CBD and survive after a hard blow from Conor McGregor. Even the NFL players today think twice before getting another dose of Toradol in the locker room. Players of the caliber of Eben Britton are beginning to make their voices heard. Celebrities are spreading the word far and wide. As a result, cannabis is increasingly accepted and popular as a pain treatment in North America.
Fortunately, legislators across Europe will be forced, sooner or later, to reach the same conclusion. In addition to Holland, Germany, Italy, and Spain, all European patients suffering from back pain can take advantage of CBD-based painkillers. But what they really need is access to all the other cannabinoids contained in cannabis.