Chronic Pain and How It is Managed through Medical Cannabis

From time to time, you may experience injuries that can cause you pain. These injuries could include anything from simple finger cuts with a kitchen knife to serious hits to the head when engaging in contact sports. The pain should cease as soon as the injury heals. However, if the wound heals and the pain persists, it is called chronic pain. It can last for weeks or even months, and that is why specialists at GreenBridge Medical are offering the residents of Santa Monica chronic pain treatment services. They have successfully helped to manage chronic pain using medical cannabis.

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain can result from an injury that you had earlier and typically occurs when the nerves are damaged. It is also possible to experience chronic pain without having an injury. This type of chronic pain is caused by other health conditions, such as:

• Inflammatory bowel disease which causes pain and inflammation to your digestive tract
• Disorders like endometriosis, where the uterine wall tends to grow outside the womb
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Vulvodynia, which is a pain in the vulva without an apparent cause
• Interstitial cystitis, which causes pain in the bladder
• Broken bones
• Fibromyalgia, which causes muscle pain in your body
• Arthritis and any other disorders affecting your joints

Chronic illness can affect anyone, but it’s more common among older people. Other factors that can make you vulnerable to chronic pain include being obese and having had an injury or surgery. According to research, females are at a higher risk of chronic pain compared to males.

Symptoms of Chronic Pain

You can experience either severe or mild chronic pain. The symptoms include burning, dull ache, stiffness, soreness and stinging, feeling week, loss of appetite, mood swings, failing to sleep, and exhaustion.

The symptoms of chronic pain can inconvenience your routine. When you are unable to achieve your daily goals due to chronic pain, you can get depressed and even lose your self-esteem. That’s why doctors recommend the use of antidepressants when dealing with chronic pain.

Diagnosis of Chronic Pain

Your doctor will need to know whether you have had illnesses that resulted in surgery or have had an injury that initiated the pain. Other questions follow to enable your physician to understand the type of pain you are experiencing, and for how long you have experienced it.

Your doctor will also carry out imaging tests and scans like magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and x-ray.

Chronic Pain Treatment using Medicinal Cannabis

The use of medicinal cannabis as an alternative to opioids for the treatment of chronic pain has become common. Many people living with chronic pain either smoke or eat marijuana, while others opt to use it as an oral spray. This form of treatment can cause deterioration of your health if not strictly checked by your doctor.

Medical cannabis is preferred because the risk of dependency is minimal compared to pills. You may also be unable to swallow pills or take an injection, making medicinal cannabis treatment a worthwhile option to consider.

According to various research reports, medicinal cannabis works by producing certain compounds that connect to the receptors in the body, making it possible to treat inflammation and pain.