Can I use medical cannabis to treat back pain?
Chronic pain is not only common — the CDC says that prevalence estimates range from 11% to 40% — but it’s often a cause of other conditions. Rates of depression, anxiety, and even opioid addiction are all impacted by chronic pain. Pain management is a tricky balancing act, made all the more complicated by the fact that chronic pain is more “prevalent among adults living in poverty, adults with less than a high school education, and adults with public health insurance.” Exacerbating these underlying issues is the fact that chronic pain also happens to be the leading cause of long-term disability. However, medical cannabis (aka medical marijuana) is emerging as an alternative treatment for certain kinds of pain — especially back and neck.
According to Practical Pain Management, “In a recent comprehensive review of existing data on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids, the National Academies of Science concluded that adult patients with chronic pain who were treated with cannabis/cannabinoids were more likely to experience a clinically significant reduction in pain symptoms.”
Medical cannabis’ impact on pain is due to a variety of factors, including the role your body’s cannabinoid receptors play in pain management. “CB2 receptors play an important role in pain via their role in the body’s immune response, mainly due to their anti-inflammatory effect, although they also have analgesic or pain-relieving properties,” according to Practical Pain Management.
But as is often the case with medical cannabis, the strain, dose, and method of use have a lot to do with its effectiveness in fighting pain. Dr. David Bearman, co-founder of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine, recommends patients looking to treat pain with marijuana begin with a dose of 15mg THC to 15 mg CBD. Doses of THC less than 15 mg often are not enough to provide significant pain relief.
The verdict on medical cannabis for back pain
Decades of anecdotal information, plus more recent clinical research, suggests that cannabis has benefits for pain sufferers — and certainly we can agree that, in comparison to opioid pain medications, medical cannabis’s side-effects are negligible. However, a lack of research into specific strains means most advice about what works best for pain management is still observational.
The results of an online survey, comprising 95 participants, featured in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2014, found that participants preferred Indica strains for pain management, sedation, and sleep while they would opt for Sativa strains to improve energy and mood.
Recommended cannabis strains for pain patients
We always recommend asking the professionals at your local dispensary for advice on which strains and products may help you specifically, but here are some of the Cann Cure Cultivation strains pain patients may want to consider:
Big Smooth (Indica-dominant hybrid)
Black Dog (Indica-dominant hybrid)
Crown Royal (Indica-dominant hybrid)
Florida Cake (Indica-dominant hybrid)
Gorilla Glue (slightly Indica-dominant hybrid)
Incredible Hulk (Sativa-dominant strain)
Mandarin Cookies (Sativa-dominant hybrid)
Pineapple Express (60/40 Sativa/Indica)
Purple Chem Dog (Indica-dominant hybrid)
Sour Apple (Indica-dominant hybrid)
Thank You Jerry (Indica-dominant hybrid)
Training Day (Indica-dominant hybrid)
