Taken from the book Natural solutions for pain.

Humans have always used cannabis to manage various types of pain, including those related to the musculoskeletal system. Even modern medicine cannot ignore the fact that cannabis helps with pain. What in cannabis works on pain?

Cannabis has always helped manage various pains

Cannabis has been used to relieve pain for thousands of years. For example, the Chinese used cannabis for rheumatism and gout, among other things, more than 2500 years BC. Both problems are associated with pain. In 200, they also began using cannabis as an anesthetic.

Anesthetics allow operations to be performed without feeling it. Vikings and Teutons used cannabis to relieve toothache and the pain of childbirth. Interest in cannabis in Western medicine increased when Irish physician William O'Shaughnessy in 1840 revealed the results of using cannabis to relieve pain, cramps, nausea, and dizziness.

Modern medicine also confirms the effects of cannabis on pain

The current expert assessment of the review of existing clinical studies on the impact of cannabis cannabinoids on chronic pain (neuropathic pain, pain due to cancer and rheumatism and other musculoskeletal problems, pain in multiple sclerosis, pain caused by chemotherapy) is positive, as they believe that there is significant evidence that cannabis is an effective means of treating chronic pain in adults. Nevertheless, the expert opinion is that additional evidence is needed on the efficacy and safety of such preparations, which is why they are currently undergoing numerous clinical studies on this topic.

What in cannabis has a painkilling effect?

Many of the many components of cannabis also help with pain management. These include cannabinoids, in addition to terpenes, flavonoids, fatty acids, and amino acids.
Let's see why they help manage pain.

The main – but not the only – mechanism of the effect of cannabis cannabinoids on pain is probably support for the endocannabinoid system (ECS). An important task of the ECS is to return cells to balance whenever they are disturbed, whether by psychological stress or by injury, toxins, inflammation or other stimuli. The functions by which the ECS achieves balance are also colloquially described by many as: “relax, nourish, sleep, forget, protect”. These functions are also said to include pain regulation (1). Thus, in the event of injury or inflammation, pain is activated and thus warns us of the problem. The first to respond to this are said to be endocannabinoids, which are secreted at the site of injury and, via ECS receptors, trigger a reaction to calm the inflammation and the intensity of the pain. When the inflammation or injury subsides, the pain goes away.

A consequence of impaired ECS function, for example due to a lack of endocannabinoids or their receptors, can therefore be – among other problems (2) – the inability to regulate pain (and inflammation).

For example, the hemp cannabinoids THC and CBD support the function of the ECS and thus affect various pain conditions, such as central and peripheral neuropathic pain, pain due to rheumatoid arthritis, pain associated with cancer, and others.
Since musculoskeletal pain can have various causes (free radical damage, chronic inflammation, autoimmune inflammation, bone or nerve damage, muscle spasm, psychological stress, etc.), cannabinoids can also help us in a broader sense. In this sense, let's take a look at the range of actions of the cannabinoid CBD.

CBD has stronger antioxidant properties than vitamins C and E. It has anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects (it suppresses an overactive immune system). This is welcome in all autoimmune diseases (such as rheumatoid arthritis) and associated pain. For example, a study conducted on rodents with artificially induced arthritis showed that daily oral or intraperitoneal (into the abdominal cavity) administration of CBD inhibits the progression of arthritis and protects joints from further damage. (3)

In addition, CBD has neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects, which can help with problems related to the nervous system and the pain that accompanies them (such as multiple sclerosis). CBD also relaxes muscle spasms and promotes bone growth. Broken bones heal faster when taking CBD. In addition to the above, CBD is a natural antibiotic. It also relieves tense mental states (anxiolytic, antipsychotic), inhibits the growth of tumor cells, etc.

(1) JM Walker et al., Cannabinoid analgesia.
(2) Https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15159679
(3) AM Malfait et al., The nonpsychoactive cannabis constituent cannabidiol is an oral anti-arthritic therapeutic in murine collagen-induced arthritis.

Text: Adriana Dolinar, Ph.D.Vet.Med., the president Associations for the Awakening of the Whole Man and an external employee of the information center - Zadravje.net.

Source: https://www.zazdravje.net/scepci-zdravja/obvladajmo-bolecino-s-konopljo/