Treatment of chronic pain with CBD could represent a new non-invasive pharmacological approach based on a well-tolerated, naturally occurring active ingredient. 

Pain is one of the most common symptoms in various diseases and is characterized by an unpleasant sensation that varies according to the current phenomenon that causes it and the characteristics of the person who feels it. The pain can be acute – easily treatable and generally self-limiting – or chronic, often disabling and difficult to intervene. 

CHRONIC PAIN – WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT CAUSES?

Unlike acute pain, it can last for more than six months and continue even when the trigger is gone. Pain signals remain active for weeks, months, or years and can be aggravated by environmental and psychological factors. This type of pain is resistant to many medical and even pharmacological treatments. Chronic pain has negative effects especially in the psychic sphere, causing depression, anger, and anxiety. Chronic pain is linked to conditions that include: 

• migraine and headache 
• arthritis 
• cancer 
• neuralgia 
• solastalgia 
• fibromyalgia 
• neuropathic pain 

Although acute pain is easily treatable, for example with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and/or weak or strong opiates, depending on the intensity, chronic pain, particularly neuropathic pain, is difficult to treat and particularly debilitating. New approaches to pain control have been developed over the past decade, and special attention has been paid to pain relievers, which continue to arouse much scientific interest. The role of cannabis and its components, called phytocannabinoids, as adjuvants in the treatment of chronic pain have been the subject of several preclinical and clinical studies.  

Cannabidiol is, along with THC, one of the main components of Cannabis, and it has been reported that it has therapeutic potential in the treatment of some forms of chronic pain, both inflammatory and neuropathic, acting in the latter especially in associated comorbidities. 

THERAPEUTIC USES OF CBD

Several preclinical studies and clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of CBD in treating neuropathic pain symptoms, either alone or in combination with tetrahydrocannabinol. In particular, CBD reduces the central sequelae associated with chronic pain such as anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are two sides of the same coin, in fact, today generalized anxiety disorder is treated with antidepressant drugs instead of benzodiazepines. CBD, thanks to its interaction with the receptors of the serotonergic system, reduces these comorbidities, helping the patient to cope with the painful symptoms that continue to persist and which are often refractory to any type of pharmacological treatment.  

The effectiveness of the CDB does not seem to be limited to the general chronic pain, but it has also been observed in several other clinical conditions such as epilepsy, the inflammatory conditions, disorders of sleep, the symptoms of MS multiple, and schizophrenia. To date, CBD has already been approved for use in some drug-resistant childhood epilepsies, such as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome, or severe myoclonic epilepsy of childhood. 

CHRONIC PAIN, INFLAMMATION, AND COMORBIDITY: CBD AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS

Chronic pain has consequences that go beyond lasting sensation and have a substantial impact on a person’s quality of life. The factors that produce, characterize, and maintain pain are very different from each other. The main agents are pro-inflammatory agents and conditions, local vasodilation, increased capillary permeability, accumulation of blood and fluid proteins in interstitial spaces, migration of neutrophils from capillaries, and the release of mediators of inflammation (by example, cytokines, lymphokines, and histamine). If the damaging condition is not resolved, the inflammatory process progresses to subacute/chronic inflammation that plays a major role in the onset of classic inflammatory diseases (eg, arthritis). There is a lot of preclinical and clinical data supporting the potentially effective anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids, in particular highlighting the role of CBD as a non-toxic and non-psychoactive compound. At the moment there is no effective treatment to prevent or eliminate neuropathic pain, so current treatment is only intended to reduce symptoms. The quality of life of patients with neuropathic pain is usually worsened comorbidities such as sleep disorders, depression, and anxiety. CBD is potentially useful in the treatment of these comorbidities, thus improving the quality of life of the neuropathic patient. 

THE FUTURE OF CANNABIDIOL FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC PAIN

Although more studies are needed to recognize the true clinical role of CBD in pain, currently available studies already provide very useful information on its therapeutic role as anticonvulsants, antioxidants, but also as adjuvants in the inflammatory state and as an analgesic.  

When choosing your product, it’s important to look for full-spectrum products that are third-party tested, meaning a lab has verified that they contain what the packaging says they do. You should be able to find this information on a company’s website. Look for products made from organically grown hemp. Organic ingredients mean you’re less likely to consume pesticides or other chemicals. By choosing Bioteca, you guarantee yourself the best quality, third-party lab-tested, full-spectrum products.