Spinal cord injuries are some of the most terrifying injuries that can occur. While there are an array of drugs doctors give their patients for pain and other issues, those medications can pose serious side effects harmful to the user. So, what else is out there? CBD. Although CBD isn't a cure-all, there is research that indicates it could help with various issues that coincide with spinal cord injuries.
The spinal cord is probably the most important part of the body after the brain and the heart. It's in charge of sending information to your brain through the central nervous system. It controls everything from movement to sensory information. So, when it's injured, it can only cause problems throughout the rest of the body. Spinal cord injuries that occur may be incomplete spinal cord injuries or complete spinal cord injuries. Incomplete spinal cord injuries occur when only part of the spinal cord has been severed, causing partial loss of functionality. Complete spinal cord injuries occur when the spinal cord has been entirely cut off from the central nervous system, taking away complete functionality. When the spinal cord has been injured, whether it's an incomplete or complete injury, there are many symptoms and problems that can occur throughout the whole body. Typical problems that occur are pain, muscle spasms, loss of bowel control, and sleeplessness. However dreadful these may be, CBD can give us some insight and possibly some relief for these issues.
Pain is the most common reason for CBD use. Many people with fibromyalgia, arthritis, and chronic pain due to injury use CBD to help relieve their soreness. The most common types of pain that comes with spinal cord injuries are nociceptive and neuropathic pain. Nociceptive pain occurs when the nociceptive nerve fibers activate due to inflammation, chemicals, or physical damage. Neuropathic pain, or nerve pain, occurs when the nervous system is damaged, diseased, or injured. A review from studies taken from research between the 1980s-2007 concluded that CBD is effective for overall pain management. This includes both nociceptive and neuropathic pain. In addition, they concluded that CBD had no adverse side effects, unlike pharmaceuticals, and could also potentially help with insomnia due to chronic pain.
Muscle spasms, or spasticity, can also occur after a spinal cord injury. Spasticity occurs when motor neurons in the brain produce lesions causing involuntary movement. This can make everyday tasks such as tying shoes or brushing your teeth incredibly difficult. Spasticity is also seen in diseases such as cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. It's also a common occurrence after a stroke. In most cases of spasticity, the blood brain barrier (BBB) becomes pervious to T-cells from the immune system and allows them to enter the brain. Since this is foreign land for the T-cells, they kill the neurons, resulting in lesions to that area of the brain. Research suggests that CBD has strong anti-inflammatory properties, so it can potentially reduce the effect on T-cells in the brain.
Although there isn't much research on loss of bowel control, or neurogenic bowel dysfunction, that occurs in spinal injuries, there is research that suggests that it can help in cases of Crohn's disease and colitis. With Crohn's disease and colitis, the digestive tract or the intestine become inflamed, causing abdominal pain, diarrhea, and a multitude of other possible issues. Referring back to the last paragraph, research suggests that CBD has strong anti-inflammatory properties, which could assist in relief of these diseases. So, could CBD possibly help with neurogenic bowel dysfunction? Maybe, although more research must be done. However, given that CBD has the potential to help with Crohn's and colitis, the future seems bright.
There may not be any concrete evidence at the moment, but new positive data about CBD is coming out every day. Researchers are continually working on finding facts to help further the use of CBD and other cannabis properties in a positive and healthy way.
Do you have questions about our products or CBD in general? We'd be happy to help assist you anyway that we can. Please feel free to reach us at 719-358-7553 or e-mail us at info@discovercbd.com.
