The use of medical cannabis as an alternative treatment for chronic pain management has increased yearly, thanks to continuing research. Many states and districts have also rolled out medical cannabis programs to facilitate the industry between medical cannabis practitioners and patients.
This has made it easier for you to get weed as a supplemental health remedy. That said, with more cannabis products than ever available at dispensaries, finding the ones that can benefit your needs can be confusing. This article will explain the ways that you can select the most suitable medical marijuana to improve your health and lifestyle conditions.
Here’s how to choose the right medical cannabis product for chronic pain.
Consult with a Medical Cannabis Specialist
Whether you’re enrolled in a medical cannabis program in your state or not, the first step is to consult with a cannabis healthcare provider or medical cannabis specialist. They may determine your suitability for medical marijuana and recommend CBD-based cannabis to begin with. A specialist can also develop a treatment strategy for your condition and advise you on the best cannabis products for pain relief, with the right dosage. Furthermore:
- Cannabis healthcare providers are licensed physicians qualified to prescribe and treat patients with chronic pain using marijuana.
- If you’re not a medical cannabis patient, you can speak to a specialist at a cannabis dispensary and get a medical cannabis card.
Consider a Consumption Method
There are several options on how to take medical cannabis for chronic pain. This means you can select the best products based on your preferred consumption method. There are inhaling medical cannabis products such as smoking, vaping and dabbing, oral ingestion such as eating, drinking, sucking on or swallowing tablets. There’s also the sublingual choice placed under your tongue or using skin-absorption products that target the pain area. Doing this:
- Ensures you can take your medical cannabis product in comfort.
- You choose the optimum method to get the cannabis working to relieve pain as quickly as possible.
Choose Your Preferred Medical Cannabis Product
There are plenty of medical cannabis product categories to choose from. Whether you’re a smoker or a nonsmoker, there’s cannabis to ease your chronic pain. For smokers, you can select from flower, pre-rolls, vapes, and concentrates for dabbing from a medical cannabis dispensary. Nonsmokers have the option of edible gummies, chews, and snacks, or a pack of unsweetened CBD: THC tablets. Additionally:
- You can use tincture droppers to deposit CBD into your bloodstream faster.
- Pain patches, topical creams, roll-ons, and oil ointments are also available as medical cannabis products.
Go For Cannabis With High THC Levels
If you’re an experienced medical cannabis user with a high cannabinoid tolerance, you can choose medical cannabis products with THC levels of 15% and more, which are considered potent. While research is still ongoing, medical cannabis trials suggest that higher THC can lower chronic pain intensity and improve pain tolerance over time to improve your quality of life. In addition to this:
- Higher THC in medical cannabis leads to more euphoric effects that relax your body to reduce pain variation.
- The effectiveness of the THC levels also depends on your individual physiology and the location and cause of your chronic pain.
Choose Pain-Relieving Flower Strains
While cannabis flower have unique effects according to their composition, there are several strains known to reduce pain while others are specifically bred to improve chronic pain. Medical cannabis patients use cannabis as a substitute pain management solution, which exists in all three Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid strains. These include classics such as Skywalker, ACDC, Blue Dream, White Widow, and Northern Lights. What’s more:
- Research shows that the best pain-relieving cannabis has an equal balance of CBD and THC.
- You can find the most effective pain relief cannabis by checking strain information or speaking to a budtender at a medical cannabis dispensary.
Start With A Low Dosage
If you’re a beginner medical cannabis user or you have a low tolerance for THC, then it’s recommended to start with products at a lower dosage. This includes products with less than 15% or 40mg of THC and a small amount of CBD of 2.5mg daily for the best therapeutic effects. Doing this will help your body adjust to cannabinoids in your bloodstream and ensure you can safely monitor the effects on you. Moreover:
- You can gradually increase the medical cannabis dosage over time to manage your chronic pain treatment.
- Oral products such as tablets and edibles are known to have the lowest doses to begin with.
Conclusion
Choosing the right medical cannabis product for chronic pain is a simple process with the methods above. Firstly, consult a medical cannabis specialist for recommendations, treatment advice, and prescriptions if you’re part of the medical cannabis program.
Then, consider what consumption method you prefer and the products in that category to make sure you remain comfortable when inhaling, ingesting, or applying to your skin. Finally, you can determine the right medical cannabis by dosage and your tolerance to THC by starting low if you’re a beginner and higher amounts if you have a better tolerance. You can find the right medical cannabis to treat your chronic pain at the Firehouse Dispensary today!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How to obtain a medical cannabis card in Washington, DC?
If you’re an adult aged 21 and above, you can apply with the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, or ABRA, then purchase your medical cannabis card from a licensed retailer in the district.
2. How does medical cannabis relieve chronic pain?
THC and CBD, the two cannabinoids with the highest efficacy against pain, bind to receptors in the brain to slow down the pain impulses. This eases the discomfort and intensity of experiencing chronic pain.
3. Where can you buy medical cannabis in Washington, DC?
Medical cannabis is available at licensed retailers in DC of up to 8 ounces per month when you show proof of ID and a medical cannabis card.
4. What’s the difference between CBD and THC for chronic pain?
CBD and THC affect your body and mind differently. Since THC is psychoactive, it gives you the ‘high’ sensation while relieving pain, while CBD is therapeutic and doesn’t make you high to ease pain.
