Medical cannabis is an increasingly popular alternative to traditional pain-relieving medications, including opioids. Cannabis may ease certain types of chronic pain, including pain resulting from nerve damage and inflammation. If you’d like to buy the best cannabis for Back Pain Relief, use marijuana delivery to your home.

Today, chronic pain affects more people than cancer, heart disease, and diabetes combined. Chronic pain is the most common cause of long-term disability in the United States.

Most cannabis-based products do not have approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and more evidence is necessary to confirm their safety and effectiveness.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests that cannabis or its compounds may help relieve some types of pain.

There are distinct types or strains of cannabis available, and each may have slightly different effects on the user.

In this article, we look at the best cannabis strains for chronic pain relief.

How Is Medical Marijuana an Effective Treatment for Back Pain?

Medical cannabis can be an alternative to traditional treatments. It is becoming an increasingly preferred treatment for patients with chronic back pain. For example, conventional medications can cause a multitude of side effects like nausea, stomach upset, ulcers and gastric bleeding. Medical marijuana does not have the same associated side effects. Here are some ways with medical marijuana can help treat back pain:

  • It may reduce your pain to a level where you can live an active life
  • It may allow you to be free from potentially dangerous and addictive medications, while having an overall better quality of life.
  • Chronic back pain can cause depression, insomnia and anxiety. Medical marijuana can eliminate or reduce many of these symptoms.
  • It is natural substance from plant, without chemicals,.

During a study conducted at the University of Colorado, they looked at 200 patients with back pain. The pain was due to conditions focused on degenerative changes. 89% of patients said medical marijuana reduced their pain moderately. 81% claimed that it worked better than narcotic medications. The consumption of medical marijuana by the patients was once or twice a day.

What Type of Back Pain Symptoms Are Treated by Medical Marijuana?

Medical marijuana can help alleviate many symptoms of back pain as there are wide range of symptoms with back pain. Here are some of the symptoms medical marijuana can help alleviate:

1. Pain and Muscle Spasms

Marijuana can help reduce muscle spasms. Some studies have reported a 45% reduction in the intensity of pain within 20 minutes of inhalation. And it is particularly effective in treating back spasms. Many states have approved the use of medical marijuana for muscle spasms. In Pennsylvania medical marijuana is approved for:

  • Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin
  • Severe chronic or intractable pain

2. Nausea and Vomiting

One of the properties for marijuana is to reduce nausea and vomiting. Traditional medications prescribed for back pain and chronic conditions are opioids and similar drugs. These have side effects of nausea and vomiting. Because marijuana treats both nausea and pain, many patients prefer the marijuana to other drugs. Furthermore, chronic pain can cause depression. Medical marijuana, on the other hand, can creduce depression and improve sleep.

Many states have approved medical marijuana to treat nausea and vomiting. In fact, marijuana has been used among the cancer patient population for a number of years to enhance appetite and as an antiemetic, reducing side effects of chemotherapy.

3. Inflammation

Marijuana has strong anti-inflammatory properties. It is a natural substance to treat inflammation from arthritis, as well as degenerative changes in the lumbar, cervical or thoracic spine. Most back or neck pain occurs due to degenerative changes in the spine. Many patients prefer marijuana to treat their pain due to the inflammation.

Ways to Use Medical Marijuana for Back Pain

Marijuana can be used topically or internally. Some of the best methods using marijuana are as follows:

  • Inhalation: This method is smoking or vaping the weed. This produces the fastest affect, within 1-2 minutes
  • Raw juice: One can use marijuana as dietary supplement through juicing. This will reduce the pain without a psychoactive effect.
  • Tinctures: Tinctures are usually placed under the tongue and swallowed. This produces a quicker result, due to absorption through the mucosal membranes.
  • Edibles: Edible marijuana will produce a slower response because absorption needs to transfer through the gut. But, it may last longer in terms of relief and produce a better psychotropic effect. Relief may take up to an hour before one feels the effect.
  • Topicals: Topical marijuana produces a different effect. Absorption is localized to the site of the injury. One can ramp up the use based upon the desired effect.

Strains of Marijuana Used for Back Pain

Marijuana has many different strains, and they worked differently for different people and varying symptoms. Heavy THC strains seem to work best at relieving pain, whereas CBD works best for relieving inflammation. However, heavy THC causes more psychoactive effects. Patients may want to use a low THC/high CBD combination during the daytime, to remain more functional, but high THC/low CBD at nighttime, for a better night sleep.

A New Choice for Managing Chronic Back Pain

Back pain can be a life-altering condition. The opiate medicines doctors currently prescribe to deal with it can be ineffective and lead to addiction. But in 33 states, there’s a new option to treat back pain. Medical marijuana patients today can manage chronic back pain naturally and oftentimes release themselves from dangerous pharmaceuticals.

Everyone’s body responds to cannabis a little bit differently, which can add to the frustration of finding the right strain for your back pain. Scientific research and anecdotal evidence give us some clues to which strains of cannabis treat back pain the best.

Radicular pain (often called sciatica) follows the pathway along your spinal nerves and is prone to compression and inflammation. The radiating back pain you experience during a flare up can stop you in your tracks and make it difficult to enjoy life at all.

Luckily, a few medical marijuana strains can make managing chronic back pain a lot easier. Here’s a few strains that stand out for the potent pain-relieving properties:

Northern Lights

Northern Lights is one of the purest and most popular indica strains around. The 95 percent indica strain is a cross of Afghani and Thai strains. 

Myrcene, Ocimene, and Pinene comprise the dominant terpene profile. Terpenes are aromatic oils that give cannabis strains their distinctive flavors and may play a role in identifying the effect. For example, certain terpenes may be relaxing while others could be what helps you focus. 

Northern Lights packs a powerful punch of THC that relaxes the body and promotes a mind-boosting feeling of euphoria. The “couch lock” on this strain is very noticeable. (Evidence: I’ve enjoyed many a night of medicating while lazily watching YouTube with my cats.)

In the 1980s and 1990s, Northern Lights won a notable amount of Cannabis Cup awards. That established it as a household name. Patients come back to the Northern Lights strain over and over again for the full-body relaxing effect that makes it an ideal strain for managing chronic back pain.

ACDC

This CBD-dominant phenotype of Cannatonic and an unknown Ruderalis strain won’t get you high. However, many patients report that “high CBD/low THC medicinals bring on immediate relaxation, a sense of well-being and a very gentle tingling sensation.

Because ACDC is a sativa, users report that it creates a sense of well-being with an increase in sociability. It’s a mellow yet uplifting high. The ACDC strain has a reputation for being good for treating chronic stress or anxiety, arthritis, depression, neuropathy, and migraines.

BlackJack

Indicas are renowned for their pain-relieving properties and sativas are noted for their head-high, but many patients find hybrid strains are a happy-medium. One of the best hybrid strains patients say helps back pain while still being able to focus is BlackJack. BlackJack is a heavily sativa-leaning hybrid strain that crosses Black Domina and Jack Herer. Jack Herer is a cross of Shiva Skunk and Haze with Northern Lights #5. Perhaps the Northern Lights contributes to BlackJack’s magic pain-fighting formula?

Terpinolene dominates the terpene profile of the Blackjack strain. It is noticeable in a slightly piney aroma and flavor. The flowers are large and dense with trichome-encrusted calyxes. The effects of the BlackJack strain are notably long-lasting. It makes it a super choice for busy days where medicating is the last thing on one’s mind.

Finding the Right Strain For You

The road to finding what type of cannabis works best for you can be bumpy given the endless strains and methods of administration. Supply and demand is also an issue. If you find a strain you like, it might not be there the next time you go to the dispensary. Users with significant back pain may feel frustrated and return to pharmaceuticals if they can’t find a strain or method that works for them. Reach out to your doctor or dispensary budtender if you aren’t having any luck choosing or locating a particular strain for recommendations on strains that may be right for you.

Interested in trying medical marijuana for managing chronic back pain? If you don’t have your medical marijuana card yet, schedule your medical marijuana consultation wit hone of our trusted doctors today.

What are Side Effects of Marijuana for Back Pain

While medical marijuana is very effective at treating back pain, there is the potential of experiencing side effects. They are usually mild and go away once your treatment wears off. In any event, it’s good to know what they are, so you can sit down with your doctor to discuss them. There are certain side effects each patient should know about the use of marijuana for back pain, or any other pain. The side effects are usually mild and can go way as a treatment wears off. Patient should discuss the side effects with their doctor. Some of the common side effects are as follows:

  • Redness of Eyes: Commonly patients will experience redness of eyes. This is not harmful and can be treated by using eye drops such as Visine.
  • Short-term memory loss: This is a temporary side effect and does go away as the treatment wears off. Some patients may be more susceptible to it than the others.  
  • Heightened sensory perception: This side effect can impact a patient’s site, hearing, sense of taste and smell.
  • Fatigue: This side effect is common with high THC strains. One can balance it with the use of low THC strains.

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