One Green Leaf isn’t a medical dispensary, nor do we sell medicinal cannabis products, and we can’t give you medical advice. However, we are free to provide you with our compiled research about cannabis and the benefits it could potentially have for your body and mind.
That doesn’t mean we’re prescribing or suggesting a medicinal treatment. Rather, it’s food for thought. We hope you take the information compiled in this article and apply your better judgment.
In addition, we’ll provide this disclaimer: Those intending to utilize cannabis for therapeutic or medical reasons should discuss doing so with their licensed healthcare provider before moving forward.
Cannabis has many benefits, but—like all things in life—it has its ups and downs. The downs typically occur when cannabis is abused or used irresponsibly.
Self-medicating with cannabis is one way things can go wrong. Conversely, a holistic approach involving transparency with doctors and mental health professionals (like psychologists) will yield the results you seek.
In other words, the information we provide on cannabis’s ability to treat inflammation isn’t encouragement for readers to self-medicate. If your interest is piqued by what you read, we suggest doing more research.
Alternatively, we fully endorse safe and responsible recreational (non-medical) adult usage of cannabis. We just can’t tell you it’ll do anything for what ails you—that’s up to your doctor.
Inflammation And Its Many Facets
Inflammation is a rather broad term that can apply to many areas throughout our bodies. It can affect our skin, gums, muscles, and organs.
Specifically, inflammation is a bodily response to injuries, illness, or external elements that your body rejects (e.g., toxic chemicals or germs) [1].
There’s a double-edged sword element to inflammation. While the physical sensations it causes might suggest otherwise, inflammation is often good for us because it’s helping us heal.
For instance, a fever is an appropriate inflammatory response when sick.
Then, there’s the other edge of our sword—when inflammation persists for too long or destroys healthy tissue.
Let’s break down some of the basics of inflammation:
- Our bodies’ immune systems send out inflammatory cells and cytokines (which trigger more inflammation) as first responders to viruses, injuries, or other external triggers.
- Inflammation is meant to trap toxins and germs and begin the healing process. It often causes swelling, pain, and discoloration—all signs of healing.
- When at normal levels, inflammation should cause minimal discomfort, but the pain shouldn’t be extreme.
- Inflammatory responses can also happen in places we can’t see or necessarily feel outright. While these responses can help with healing, they can also damage overall health.
Acute Versus Chronic Inflammation
Another factor to consider is the type of inflammation you’re facing. Below, we’ll examine both acute and chronic inflammation:
Acute Inflammation
Acute inflammation is when your immune system’s immediate response to an injury (e.g., a black eye) or an infection.
Infections throughout your body can cause short bursts of acute inflammation.
For example, viral infections (e.g., the flu) and bacterial infections (e.g., strep throat) can cause throat inflammation.
When dealing with a viral or bacterial infection, the small intestine can also experience acute inflammation.
Symptoms of acute inflammation include:
- Mild pain or tenderness centralized to an injured area.
- Flush or discolored skin.
- Hot skin (to the touch)
- Swelling (e.g., knee inflammation).
- Reduced range of motion or general inability to use the affected body part.
Cannabis And Acute Inflammation
There isn’t much research in the realms of cannabis and acute inflammation. At least not directly.
We can, however, explore how someone can hypothetically utilize cannabis to manage acute inflammation indirectly. One article from Men’s Journal details how many find cannabis helpful in delaying muscle soreness after workouts—most certainly a form of acute inflammation [2].
While the acute inflammation itself likely isn’t reduced in the above scenario, cannabis shows a strong potential to offset the discomfort caused by inflammation.
Another article on Healthline examines consuming cannabis while sick with a cold or flu. It cites inefficient evidence on whether cannabis can help the resulting acute inflammation but deems it a relatively safe practice (as long as your lungs can handle it). Also, the article in question speaks to the pain-reduction capabilities of cannabis in helping when you’re sick [3].
Chronic Inflammation
Chronic inflammation is inflammation “gone wrong.” It’s when inflammatory cells keep arriving at a specific area (or throughout your entire body) when there’s no rhyme, reason, disease, or specific injury.
One example is rheumatoid arthritis, where joint tissues face continued assaults from inflammatory cells. Often, this leads to severe joint damage and inflammation becoming a frequent fixture in a sufferer’s life.
Rather than protecting your body (like acute inflammation), chronic inflammation hurts it and can last months, years, or even decades—especially if left untreated. It has its ups and downs. You might have months without experiencing flare-ups, only to have an extreme setback that results from a wide array of conditions.
Symptoms of chronic inflammation include:
- Chest pain.
- Belly pain.
- Fever.
- Insomnia and fatigue.
- Joint stiffness and pain.
- Rash on the skin.
- Mouth sores.
- Mood disorders (e.g., depression and anxiety).
- Gastrointestinal issues.
- Weight loss or weight gain.
- Continued infections.
Conditions frequently linked to chronic inflammation include:
- Cardiovascular diseases (e.g., high blood pressure and heart disease).
- Autoimmune disease (e.g., psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis).
- Lung diseases (e.g., asthma and COPD).
- Gastrointestinal diseases (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease).
- Metabolic diseases (e.g., type 2 diabetes).
- Mental health conditions (e.g., anxiety and depression).
- Neurogenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s).
Cannabis And Chronic Inflammation
While more research is needed, cannabis shows promise in treating gastric inflammation caused by diclofenac [4] and arthritis (pain and inflammation in the joints [5].
The prevailing belief is you’ll likely find more luck in treating inflammation by finding strains with strains that combine CBD and THC. CBD is known for its therapeutic properties and is often used for joint pain, and the psychoactive effects of THC can make inflammation relief more potent.
Learn more about CBD-THC hybrid strains by contacting One Green Leaf Dispensary today!
Sources
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21660-inflammation
- https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/can-weed-really-help-you-recover-workouts#:~:text=One%20way%20weed%20definitely%20helps,gym%20faster%2C%E2%80%9D%20Tishler%20says.
- https://www.healthline.com/health/cold-flu/smoking-weed-with-a-cold#potential-benefits
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9124761/
- https://arthritis.ca/treatment/your-patient-journey/medical-cannabis#:~:text=While%20medical%20cannabis%20can’t,is%20not%20right%20for%20everyone.
