Many people with chronic pain in West Palm Beach, Florida are moving away from addictive prescription medications to medical marijuana, as the latter has been legalized in many US states.
How prevalent is chronic pain?
Chronic pain can be incredibly difficult to deal with, as it lasts longer than three months and extends past normal tissue healing time. It’s believed that 50.2 million adults suffer from chronic pain in the US.
Why do we experience chronic pain?
The central nervous system is made up of your spinal nerves and the brain. The spinal nerves carry messages from your body to your brain, effectively telling the brain what’s happening in your body.
Your brain is like a control center, working out whether it needs to do anything based on the messages it receives. The brain will send out pain signals when something isn’t quite right.
We typically expect the pain to settle down as time goes on. However, chronic pain happens when these signals don’t stop. Instead, the pain continues, and it can often be intense for no reason.
As pain is complex, pain treatment doesn’t always help. Addictive pain medicine can cause more issues. This is why we’re seeing a lot of people treat chronic pain with medical marijuana instead.
Can Medical Marijuana Help With Chronic Pain Management?
Studies show that as many as one in every three people who take opioids as chronic pain relief end up misusing them. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that many people are looking for alternative treatments to relieve chronic pain.
There have been a number of studies and clinical trials that have shown that medical marijuana is effective as pain relief. In one study, 984 chronic pain patients were evaluated. This included patients with abdominal pain, headaches, post-surgical pain, arthritis, back pain, and neuropathic pain.
In this chronic pain study, two-thirds of patients said pain relief was the main benefit they experienced by using marijuana. The second most commonly reported benefit was improved sleep.
Another study on treating chronic pain with medical marijuana revealed a 64% reduction in the use of opioids amongst chronic pain patients. These patients also did not have as many side effects, meaning they enjoyed a better quality of life.
Of course, everyone is different, so once you’ve had chronic pain diagnosed, it’s important to evaluate your options. Usually, complementary and integrative health treatments are the best approach.
Symptoms People With Chronic Pain Experience That Medical Marijuana Can Ease
Chronic pain takes a toll on a person’s mental and physical health. While the pain can be almost constant, people can experience flares of more intense pain due to an increase in activity or stress.
Common symptoms associated with chronic pain conditions include:
- Muscle aches
- Burning pain
- Joint pain
- Mood problems, including irritability, anxiety, and depression
- Loss of flexibility and stamina, due to decreased activity
- Sleep issues
- Fatigue
One study has revealed that every 6 in 10 chronic pain patients also have depression, most of which report ‘severe’ level symptoms.
Get Your Medical Marijuana Card for Chronic Pain at Miracle Leaf Clematis
Miracle Leaf is your first stop in getting a medical marijuana card to treat chronic pain. Visit us at Miracle Leaf West Palm Beach, and an approved cannabis doctor will determine if you qualify for a medical marijuana card. If you do, you shouldn’t have to wait any longer than 10 days for your card. If you have any questions about getting an MMJ card for chronic or acute pain, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
