Using medical marijuana for managing chronic pain is one of the hotly debated topics in the US health industry. With chronic pain impacting a larger number of US citizens as compared to diabetes, heart ailment & cancer combined, it’s important to find a solution sooner rather than later.
Keeping that in mind, we have come up with this highly informative blog for educating US citizens on how to use medical marijuana for chronic pain management. This is provided medical marijuana is legal in your state, and you have met all the necessary conditions to procure medical marijuana legally from a cannabis dispensary.
How to Use Medical Marijuana for Chronic Pain Management?
When it comes to medical marijuana, you’ll first need to decide the consumption method. Consumption methods play a vital role in your overall marijuana experience. They can alter the percentage of active compounds (cannabinoids) absorbed by your body, the time required to experience the marijuana effects, and the span during which the effects last.
The 4 main marijuana consumption methods include:-
- Inhalation: Vaping with a vaporizer or smoking
- Edibles: Gummies, cookies, brownies, other edibles
- Tinctures & oils which dissolve under the tongue
- Topicals: Creams, ointments, salves applied directly to the skin
Let’s get to know in detail about each method.
Inhaling
Arguably the most effective consumption method for reducing the central nervous system response to pain sensations, inhaling marijuana facilitates the active compounds to cross the blood-brain barrier quickly.
On smoking marijuana, you generally start to experience the effects after 2 minutes, with the sensation peaking after half an hour. The effects are typically experienced for a duration of 2 to 4 hours, with the body generally absorbing around 25% of the active compounds.
When marijuana is inhaled through vaporization, more amount of active compounds gets absorbed as compared to smoking. To be more precise, around 33% of the active compounds generally get absorbed through vaping.
Consuming Edibles
One of the most common medical marijuana consumption methods, consuming marijuana edibles such as gummies, cookies, brownies, etc., helps ensure a prolonged duration (around 2 hours) before the effects are experienced.
This is in contrast to inhaling marijuana, wherein the effects are felt very quickly. However, the effects of consuming edibles can be more potent and stay longer as compared to inhaling marijuana.
Different types of medical marijuana edibles comprise:
- Gummies
- Cookies
- Brownies
- Granolas
- Lollies
- Butters
- Beverages
Tinctures and Oils
Sometimes considered as edibles, tinctures and oils are also consumed through the mouth but get more swiftly absorbed by the body than other medical marijuana edibles.
They are usually consumed by keeping under the tongue, wherein they dissolve, get promptly absorbed into the bloodstream & cross the blood-brain barrier.
Applying Topicals
Used to reduce inflammation and localized pain, applying medical marijuana topicals does not lead to systemic absorption. Hence, it doesn’t result in the high that may be experienced via other consumption methods like inhaling & consuming.
Types of medical marijuana topicals comprise:
- Creams
- Lotions
- Oils
- Salves
If you are interested in buying medical marijuana, apply for a medical marijuana card and buy 100% legal medical cannabis from our dispensaries in Missouri. Call us at +1 (816) 775-2920 today.
