Among the different actions of CBD, many consumers and scientific studies highlight its action to relieve the symptoms of osteoarthritis or arthritis. What is the difference between them? How can CBD help? The answers in this article.
What are osteoarthritis and arthritis?
Although both affect the joints, osteoarthritis and arthritis are two different conditions:
Osteoarthritis
It affects the joints of the human body by deteriorating their cartilage, allowing them to move together. As a result, the joints collide with each other, causing damage and pain. It usually develops with age, but it can also appear after many repetitive movements or intensive and poorly supervised exercise.
Arthritis
It also affects the joints of the human body and causes acute or chronic inflammation of the latter. The resulting pain is difficult to bear. Arthritis can have different origins: infectious, immune or metabolite, and it is one of the clinical signs associated with many joint diseases.
During the last ten years, studies on the application of CBD to alleviate these two pathologies have been published regularly in the different scientific journals available for consultation:
What studies are available on CBD and its effect on osteoarthritis or arthritis?
The action of CBD on osteoarthritis
In a study published by a famous American rheumatologist, CBD was studied for its action on osteoarthritis: scientists sought to evaluate the action of CBD on disease-induced inflammation (acute joint inflammation) in rats.
The results showed that the action of CBD helped reduce acute joint inflammation through topical application, in the most affected areas. Therefore, joint pain was reduced and CBD was also found to be neuroprotective:
The data presented indicates that the topical administration of CBD blocked the pain of osteoarthritis. CBD prophylactic treatment prevented further development of pain and nerve damage in these osteoarthritis joints.
The action of CBD on rheumatoid arthritis
In 2000, a scientific study by a London team found the action of CBD on rheumatoid arthritis, which is one of the most common causes of chronic arthritis. With an oral administration of 5 to 25 mg of CBD per kilogram of body weight, scientists have found an anti-inflammatory but also immunosuppressive action in the subjects in question.
The action of CBD on chronic arthritis
Furthermore, in this study published in 2016, CBD had a mitigating action on inflammation and pain resulting from osteoarthritis, with no notable side effects.
After an application of 0.5 to 6 mg of CBD per kilogram of body weight per day, and in localised areas, CBD gels have reduced pain scores, infiltration of immune cells and thickening of the synovial membrane, depending on the dose administered.
Therefore, scientific evidence in animals seems to support the possible beneficial action of CBD in relieving osteoarthritis or arthritis. More precise studies are still needed, but CBD appears to be a promising active molecule to help those affected:
Using CBD to relieve osteoarthritis or arthritis
Certain surveys have been carried out on patients affected by these pathologies, or simply during a global study on the consumption of cannabinoids as a complementary therapy. The use of CBD for the relief of osteoarthritis or arthritis is very often highlighted:
AmericanMarijuana interviewed nearly 1,500 Americans who use CBD for pain relief this year to find out if it was more effective than opioids. In this study, we noted that 28% of people surveyed use CBD to relieve pain resulting from osteoarthritis.
In 2017, this other survey, conducted by the US osteoarthritis research unit, highlighted the following data: more than half of Americans have already tried cannabinoids at least once in their lives, such as CBD or THC, to relieve the pain of osteoarthritis. For half of them, this consumption helped reduce symptoms.
Which CBD product to use?
According to the data below, two modes of administration are highlighted:
Oral consumption of CBD
To benefit from CBD in a diffuse form throughout the body, the use of CBD oils or CBD capsules seems to be the best option. Starting with low intakes and then increasing as you go, get your body on its CBD daily to get the maximum benefit.
CBD FLEX capsules are the most suitable capsules for these needs. In addition to containing a high quality CBD-rich hemp extract (thanks to its exclusive low-temperature extraction process), they contain other active ingredients with recognised therapeutic properties, to enhance the action of CBD :
- White willow: It is used in phytotherapy to fight against inflammatory pains and rheumatisms.
- Cat’s claws: It is a herb from the tropical forest which is well known for reducing inflammation and strengthening the immune system. Its use dates back to the Inca civilisation.
- Horsetail: Present on earth since the beginning of time, the use of this plant was investigated inside popular medicine from almost all around the world, thanks to its many healing virtues, in particular of joint pains.
- Acerola: It is a super fruit with multiple virtues, due to its many constituents, primarily vitamin C. The fruit itself, possesses invigorating, stimulating and anti-infectious properties.
- Hemp extract : According to Nagarkatti P, Pandey R, Rieder SA, Hedge VL & Nagarkatti M (2010), who published Cannabinoids as novel anti-inflammatory drugs : “Cannabinoids remove the inflammatory response and then reduce the symptoms”.
Topical application of CBD
By applying CBD directly to the skin, you can more precisely locate its action on the joints. CBD oil can be applied directly to localised areas. Our CBD creams will be available in our shop very soon.