Hip injury and the pain that results from it make our everyday lives tough, with us having to struggle to make the easiest of movements. The discomfort, soreness or stiffness experienced in pelvis or hips is generally referred to as hip pain, with the causes being traumatic physical injuries or diseases.
A large share of the popularity of CBD, the plant compound attributes to its analgesic properties, and no doubt one will look for the possibilities of using CBD to cure hip pain. The same is the central theme of the article but before we speak about it in detail, it is important to start by explaining about hip pain, its common causes, commonly used medications etc.
What Are The Causes Of Hip Pain?
The point where you experience pain gives a hint about the location of the actual issue. Take for instance, the case when you experience pain in your pelvis area. This could most probably be due to an issue in the hip joint. On the other hand, if the pain is felt at some other region outside the hip, like thigh, then it could be due to an issue in the muscles, tendons, ligaments or some other structures around the hip joint.
Sometimes hip pain can even originate from a location that is not around the hip, for instance, the back. As the pain is felt at one point but originates at some distant point, it is generally termed as referred pain.
Several factors can cause hip pain. They include:
- Injury
- Muscle strain
- Joint displacement
- Bone fracture
Non-traumatic injuries too can cause hip pain. They include diseases that cause inflammation of the joints, as well as the degeneration of the joints and bones of the hip. Diseases that cause non-traumatic hip pain are:
- Avascular necrosis
- Arthritis
- Cancer
- Sciatica
- Bursitis
The specific anatomy of the hip joint makes it susceptible to inflammation and resultant pain. The large amount of space in the hip joint contains fluid that facilitates the gliding of the joint into the socket of the acetabulum.
The efficiency of CBD to handle most of these cases makes it an excellent candidate to handle hip pain.
Arthritis And Hip Pain
Arthritis refers to over 100 inflammatory conditions of the joints, with some forms of arthritis particularly affecting the hip joints. Osteoarthritis commonly affects the joints of the hip, knee and feet, with the degeneration of cartilage being characteristic of the condition. Cartilage covers the joints to absorb the shock caused by excess stress on the joints.
Articular cartilage that covers the joint surface cushions the bones and facilitates their easy movement. When it wears away, the raw bones beneath it gets exposed causing bones to rub against each other.
In addition to osteoarthritis, arthritic conditions like Rheumatoid arthritis, Ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, Systemic lupus Erythematosus etc causes extreme pain in the hips.
Unlike osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis is not a degenerative disorder but is an autoimmune disease, caused by the attack launched on the body cells by the immune system, by failing to distinguish between foreign agents and own body cells. The synovial lining filled with joint fluid facilitates the smooth movement of the hip bones. In RA patients, the synovial lining swells up due to the attack by the immune system, and the swelling causes inflammation and pain in the hip joint.
Loss of appetite, fatigue, Pain and inflammation etc are some common symptoms of hip RA.
Inflammation of the spine and the joint that connects spine and pelvis, sacroiliac joint, is termed as Ankylosing spondylitis, another type of arthritis. This could sometimes cause the inflammation of the hip joint leading to pain in the hip. People belonging to the age group between 17 and 35 are more susceptible to the disease, and it is more reported in men than in women. Symptoms of the disease include overgrowing bones, tiredness, stiffness and pain in the hips and lower back, ache in tendons and ligaments etc.
The autoimmune disorder psoriasis could develop to psoriatic arthritis that generally begins to surface in the smaller joints before affecting the larger joints like that of the hip. Some of the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis are pain in the hip joint, limited range of motion, stiff joints etc.
Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease of chronic nature that leads to pain and inflammation symptoms in the joints. When the immune system attacks the hip joint and its cells, pain and inflammation in the hip joint is the result.
How Does CBD Reduce Hip Pain?
Results of several clinical studies shed light to the efficacy of CBD hip injury treatments. The medication can help treat hip pain caused by traumatic hip injury and various non-traumatic disorders discussed above. CBD influences the pain perception function of the body by influencing the receptors of the endocannabinoid system indirectly. Two known endocannabinoid receptors are CB1 and CB2, and the activation of these receptors influences the patterns of various body functions associated with physical and mental health. Some major functions include pain perception, mood, sleep, appetite etc.
CB2 receptors primarily located in the immune system are majorly responsible for regulating the responses generated to pain signals. CBD indirectly influences the working of CB2 receptors and offers pain relief.
Hemp products provide external supply of cannabinoids to meet the deficiency of natural endocannabinoids in the body. Lack of endocannabinoids compromises the general health and well being of individuals. Intake of CBD products that contain various other hemp cannabinoids help meet the deficiency of the endocannabinoids in the body and improves general well being of the users.
Arthritis is the commonly reported disorder among non-traumatic causes of hip pain. Results from years of research back the suggestions for using CBD for arthritis treatment, with many already preferring CBD to common pain killer drugs in order to handle arthritis pain. A 2011 study found that CBD reduced the inflammation and pain in rats with acute arthritis. Studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of CBD in treating several other forms of arthritis. Take for instance a study conducted in 2014 to find the effects that CBD produced on animal test subjects with osteoarthritis. The study results concluded that CBD can effectively handle pain and inflammation symptoms characteristic of osteoarthritis.
In 2016, a study was conducted to find out how effectively could topical CBD handle pain and inflammation symptoms of arthritis. The study found that topical application of CBD on rats suffering from arthritis significantly reduced the inflammation symptoms and pain related behavior in the rats.
Ways Of Taking CBD To Handle Hip Pain
The severity of hip injury and the resultant pain decides the required potency of the CBD product. Severe the pain symptoms, more potent should be the CBD product. Let us look at some of the methods of taking CBD for hip pain.
Oral method
Oral method involves taking CBD by mouth, with many intake methods falling under this category. Some of the oral intake methods include:
Sublingual Method
It is an intake method that doesn’t involve the digestion of the CBD product in the stomach. CBD products taken sublingually are CBD oils and CBD tinctures. In the method, CBD tincture or oil is placed under the tongue for at least 30 seconds before swallowing it. Within that 30 second duration, CBD in the oil or tincture is absorbed into the bloodstream of the user. Being more direct, sublingual method offers faster relief, as CBD kicks quickly.
Edibles
CBD edibles is another popular oral CBD option that is the exact same as any traditional edible except for the fact that CBD edibles are infused with CBD extract belonging to any of the three spectrum options, full spectrum, broad spectrum and CBD isolate. Popular CBD edibles include CBD brownies, chocolate, gummies etc.
As CBD in the edibles has to go through the liver in the process of digesting the edibles, a significant percentage of it fails to reach the bloodstream. Learning this possibility, it is important to choose high potency CBD edibles especially if you are taking CBD to treat severe symptoms like hip pain.
Topical Intake
Topical CBD is exclusively meant for external application, with many products included in the category. Used in skin care and for pain relief, CBD topicals are ineffective in treating the symptoms of mental disorders like anxiety, depression etc.
CBD cream, salve, lotion etc are commonly used CBD topicals.
Vaping
One of the fastest acting CBD intake methods, CBD vaping is growing in popularity among CBD users. In the intake method, CBD vape products like vape oil is heated inside special vaporizing equipment and the vapors produced are inhaled. It doesn’t take more than 2-3 minutes for cannabidiol to kick in by vaping but the effects do not last long.
Dabbing
Dabbing is similar to vaping, except for the fact that the temperatures involved in dabbing and vaping are different. Commonly used dab CBD products include CBD shatter, CBD wax etc that are heated up inside special equipments like dab rig. On inhaling the vapors released, CBD kicks in quickly to offer faster relief similar to vaping.
Legality Of CBD
Being a cannabis derived product, CBD remained a Federal controlled drug substance until 2018, when the US farm Bill declared hemp-derived CBD legal. The bill considered hemp and its derivatives as agricultural products if the THC content in them was less than 0.3%. Hence there is absolutely no need to worry about the legality of CBD if you have plans of starting CBD use to treat hip injury.
Appreciable cannabidiol content in hemp products ensures the pain relief effects of hemp products, making it an excellent medication to handle hip injury and pain.