It is one of the most common issues that almost anybody over the age of 35 can experience. It can also be one of the costliest problems to fix, in measures of both time and money.
And it is something that, thanks to a culture that is becoming more and more sedentary and less and less active.
What is this issue?
Joint pain, that is what this issue is.
Unless they have amazing genetics, almost anybody over the age of 35 has likely complained about joint pain. Whether they have had completely sedentary lifestyles for their entire existence or whether they are seasoned athletes who train daily, joint pain is a reality for most people.
Dealing with joint pain can be very, very costly.
People throw thousands of millions of dollars at all kinds of practitioners to solve this problem. Some people get surgeries. Some others use precautionary measures, such as over-the-counter medications, wraps, or sleeves to alleviate the pain but do nothing else. Some people do nothing and foolishly “tough it out,” thinking that their issues are going to magically get better.
Now before we continue, it should be noted that we are not physical therapists of any sort.
All of the information in this article is common knowledge. We intend to add to this information with our knowledge of marijuana and cannabis, as well as the useful benefits it can have.
What we consider as “joint pain”
There are different variations of joint pain, so the first thing we need to do is to determine exactly what kind of joint pain is most relevant here.
Slight pain that can be overcome with a simple change in habits or lifestyle is not relevant. While pain like this can be very annoying and should be addressed as soon as possible, it is not even the least bit debilitating and usually does not interfere with daily activities.
Joint injuries are not relevant either. Being physically disabled is a very unfortunate condition, but people who are physically disabled often have to adhere to a much different plan and different activities to make sure they are as pain-free as possible.
The kind of pain we want to address falls in between these two extremes. If you experience a shooting pain by reaching with your arms, or walk with a cane or other kind of device that you need for leverage, or experience a shooting pain in your back if you sit down or stand up too fast, you are experiencing the kind of pain that may not be perfectly alleviated by a simple lifestyle change or a change in physical habits.
This is also the kind of pain that can be very costly to address perfectly and may require surgery or some other kind of procedure to remedy. We call this being “practically disabled,” since while you can still use your joints in some aspect, you can certainly not use them in the way you could before.
From this, a crossroads is met:
Do you spend the time and money on a procedure?
-OR-
Do you find ways to alleviate the pain to where you are still practically disabled, but can still function in your daily tasks as pain-free as possible?
If you do not want to spend money on a procedure, you will need to find a way to alleviate this pain.
Marijuana use can help do this for you.
The true source of pain
A lot of people are unclear of where pain comes from. While there is a physical source of pain, there is a “core” source of pain, as well as most other sensations that the body feels. That source is the central nervous system.
It is well known that marijuana is a depressant, meaning that it calms certain stimuli in the central nervous system. When a part of the body feels pain, the brain receives a message from that part of the body that is experiencing pain.
Because of the calming effect, it has on the central nervous system, marijuana can alleviate this pain.
This can be a very cost-effective way to manage your joint pain without having to go through a procedure. It is especially effective if you just have limited use of your joints but can still use them in your daily life.
Is marijuana a placebo effect?
One objection that some could have with this observation is the argument of the placebo effect, where using marijuana to alleviate joint pain is completely imagined. The answer to this objection is revealed in the cost-benefit analysis of using marijuana against other methods.
When you are in a position when you are practically disabled, your options for pain relief are very few and far between.
There do exist over the counter medications that can be taken to alleviate this pain, but they have many undesirable side effects which marijuana does not have.
While there is a possibility that marijuana has a placebo effect, it is still a more practical solution among other solutions that either cost too much money or have nasty side effects.
The question of excess
Naturally, when it comes to marijuana or any other drug that is even slightly demonized by the majority of culture, there is a question of how much is too much.
The answer to this concern is the same kind of answer anybody who takes drugs to alleviate pain would face: Anything taken in excess is not only not necessary, but dangerous.
This may sound like common sense, but it needs to be brought up.
A better question is how much constitutes excess. The answer to this really depends on the person. The best thing to do is to experiment with different amounts to determine how much you think is necessary to properly alleviate your joint pain.
- How Marijuana Can Alleviate Joint Pain - November 7, 2018
