Weed Things You Need When You’re in Pain
Why do you work out? For your health? To boost your mood? Just enjoy moving your limbs? Whatever the reason, once you’ve committed to working out (congrats!), it’s just as important to follow through with proper recovery. I spoke with Joie Meffert, founder of all-natural body-care line Apothecanna, to understand what causes pain after exercise and tried the best products out there to help soothe it. Whether your aches are from a glute-incinerating boot camp, over-enthusiastic walking, or a particularly bad period, here are 5 products that will make recovery feel nice.
Before diving into treatment, what causes pain? Meffert says the root of pain is typically inflammation, which is your body’s way of fighting disease and injury. Think of your immune system as the defender of your body, the Brienne of Tarth to your Sansa. When you’re hurt or sick, your body will naturally release white blood cells to protect the area that is hurt while increasing blood flow. Stress can also cause inflammation. While inflammation is supposed to help you heal, chronic inflammation can lead to all sorts of diseases, from hypertension to cancer.
Inflammation is how your body heals and with that mending may come pain. Cannabis can help because of its capacity to reduce inflammation. Cannabis can also decrease the stress associated with pain. Meffert says that if you use cannabis often enough, it can calm inflammation, sometimes with permanent effects. She also notes that while CBD is the cannabinoid that eases inflammation and pain, it’s important to make sure your pain-relieving products have THC, the psychoactive in cannabis, too. The two compounds work in unison to make each other more effective, a property known as the entourage effect (link here).
While edibles can be effective for pain, depending on your metabolism, they can take up to 120 minutes to kick in, which is inconvenient if you’re lying on the ground writhing in pain. For this Nice List, we’re recommending tinctures, topicals, and a suppository to get faster relief. Just so we’re all clear, topicals (things you put on your skin) can’t get you high. But they will make you feel nice.
5. Apothecanna Extra Strength Spray
Apothecanna doesn’t only believe in the healing powers of cannabis; they know many plants have beneficial properties. Recognizing that plant medicine isn’t always accessible, they’re here to educate consumers on the power of plants. Their extra-strength relieving spray is recommended pre- and post-workouts, but they have a wide range of body care that uses CBD and THC along with other plants for many therapeutic benefits.
4. Mary’s Medicinals Transdermal Patches
Transdermal patches are a great option for those who want targeted and slow-release pain relief. While topical creams only absorb into the top layer of the skin, providing relief to that area, transdermals use compounds that help THC and CBD pass through all layers of your skin, with some of the compound entering your bloodstream and aiding with full-body pain. Since 2013, Mary’s Medicinals has developed their transdermal patches to accurately dose areas for relief. With a wide range of patches that help treat everything from muscle pain to sleep, their products target problem areas for fast results.
3. MüV Transdermal Patch THC
If your pain levels are high and you need something a bit stronger, MüV patches are some of the most talked-about for pain relief because of their high dose. Their 50-milligram THC patches promise 12+ hours of steady release. Remember, because this is a transdermal patch, it will get into your bloodstream and you will feel some psychoactive effects due to the high dosing.
2. Whoopi & Maya Relax
Debilitating cramps, bloating, back pain, category-5 mood swings: Putting up with periods is a shitty reality of most women’s lives and can interfere with not just working out, but your ability to get out of bed. Cannabis can help by easing pain and regulating your mood. Periods happen frequently and often unexpectedly (as any woman who’s worn white denim knows), so you may not want to be hitting a vape every morning just in case your uterus decides it’s time to spasm. Enter: This tincture made by none other than the queen herself, Whoopi Goldberg. THC-dominant, it helps balance mood while reducing inflammation, a culprit of acute period pain.
1. Foria Vaginal Suppositories:
Because this has actual weed in it, rest assured that you aren’t shoving a bunch of pesticides into your womb. Cannabis goes through rigorous testing in recreationally legalized states, and this suppository with over 60 milligrams of THC and 10 milligrams of THC relaxes muscles and eases tension associated with periods. It’s also hyper-targeted, so it’s like a shot of painkillers right to the uterus. While there is some, um, leakage (you need to know the truth), if you have serious pain, Foria can help.
Do you use anything nice to help with pain? Have a story to share? Talk to us.
Thanks for being nice.
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