Effectiveness and Recent Studies
Used in the treatment of fibromyalgia, CBD oil has been shown to be a safe and effective alternative for patients who live with uncomfortable generalized pain in the body, like web developers, because of the many hours working in one position.
Nowadays, research on the therapeutic potential of plants obeys the rigors of the scientific method, and none of this has eliminated CBD from the list of potential treatments against fibromyalgia and pain in general.
On the contrary, it only reinforced what ancient doctors already knew. In other words, clinical evidence shows that medicinal cannabis is not a mere “popular belief” but a fact.
What is Cannabidiol?
Cannabidiol is a substance present in plants of the Cannabis genus: Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis and the best known of the three, Cannabis sativa.
Referred to by the acronym CBD, cannabidiol belongs to the class of cannabinoids, substances that activate the receptors of the endocannabinoid system, which helps regulate physiological processes such as appetite, pain, mood and memory.
There are more than 100 cannabinoids in the plant, among which the best known are cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol – the famous THC. THC is responsible for the psychoactive effect that made marijuana a recreational drug. But this has nothing to do with the CBD oil and CBD vape collections used to treat fibromyalgia.
There are oils with isolated CBD, oils with the full spectrum of plant components except THC and also oils with low amounts of THC like Delta-8-THC.
Even the latter does not cause a psychoactive effect, only therapeutic, as the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol is not significant. The same goes for cannabidiol-based ointment – it is worth reading the story of a patient who used CBD topically to reduce muscle tension due to fibromyalgia.
Increasingly, cannabidiol has been validated in the scientific community as a promising therapeutic alternative for a range of diseases.
What prevents it from being used more in the treatment of patients is, mainly, prejudice and ignorance.
CBD for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia
For many patients, fibromyalgia is disabling. It makes them lead a less active life due to frequent pain and its consequences: fatigue and difficulty sleeping, for example.
It’s something that can end up disrupting social and professional life. In fact, there are many who end up leaving their jobs because of fibromyalgia. Consequently, it can lead to other problems such as anxiety and depression. That is, a single problem has a domino effect.
The worst thing is that fibromyalgia is a degenerative disease, still incurable. Treatment, therefore, focuses on alleviating symptoms, so that pain is less intense and frequent.
What is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by widespread pain in the bones, muscles and joints. Pain may be accompanied by symptoms such as tiredness and sleep problems. In addition to pain, patients with fibromyalgia have great sensitivity when touched or have their muscles compressed by the examiner.
It is a chronic condition, which affects more women than men and of which it is not known exactly what the causes are and which is not detected in tests.
Thus, the diagnosis of the syndrome is clinical, given by the physician based on an interview with the patient. It is supposed that the disease arises from a sum of factors, such as the genetic load, infections caused by other diseases and physical or emotional trauma, which can act as triggers.
Researchers believe that fibromyalgia probably stems from a high level of neurotransmitters responsible for the sensation of pain present in the brain. In this way, receptors end up becoming more sensitive to pain signals.
In addition to treatment with medications and CBD oil and ointments for fibromyalgia, certain exercises and stress-reduction practices (such as yoga and meditation) can help the patient to reduce and better live with the symptoms.
Is CBD Really Effective for Fibromyalgia?
As noted at the opening of this text, cannabis has been recognized for many centuries as a therapeutic plant, which helps to alleviate pain in general.
A physician’s clinical experience is important, but in the case of fibromyalgia, we still have several scientific articles to thicken the chorus.
An Israeli study, Safety and Efficacy of Medical Cannabis in Fibromyalgia, published in 2019 in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, showed the results of following 367 people who had been treated with cannabis for six months.
The researchers concluded that medicinal cannabis is effective and safe when administered slowly and gradually. There is a lot of evidence, therefore, that CBD oil is effective among patients, even though it is not known exactly why.
After all, both fibromyalgia and the endocannabinoid system are still shrouded in mystery. The lack of knowledge, however, does not imply great risks, since adverse reactions caused by cannabidiol are practically non-existent.
More Recent Studies on the Effectiveness of Cannabidiol to Treat Fibromyalgia
The study we cited above is not the only one to suggest benefits of CBD oil and medicinal cannabis in general against the pain of fibromyalgia.
Cannabidiol, cannabinol and their combinations act as peripheral analgesics in a rat model of myofascial pain
A study published in 2019, conducted in rats at the University of British Columbia, Canada, concluded that the peripheral application of non-psychoactive cannabinoids can provide analgesic relief for chronic muscle pain disorders, such as temporomandibular disorders and fibromyalgia, without central side effects.
Cannabis Use in Patients with Fibromyalgia
Effect on Symptoms Relief and Health-Related Quality of Life
A study published in 2011, conducted by scientists in Barcelona, concluded that the use of cannabis is associated with benefits in some symptoms of fibromyalgia.