Chronic Pain, Suffering, Healing & Living

Cannabis has been used as a herbal treatment in ancient Greek Medicine as well as the Indian Ayurvedic Medicine. Both, have prescribed Cannabis as a treatment for pain relief. Strikingly both medical system have recognized the abuse potential of Cannabis and recommended caution.  Interestingly, modern research on the usefulness of Cannabis for chronic pain have shown small improvement in pain relief, physical functioning, and sleep quality, and some transient adverse effects when compared to placebo.

What’s the takeaway?

Managing chronic pain, as we know, is a complex and individualized issue so each patient needs a different approach. It’s a known fact that there is a limited role for modern medicine when it comes to managing chronic pain, and people with chronic pain use non-pharmacological approaches such as physiotherapy, exercise therapy, hot and cold therapy, herbal medicine, cognitive behavioral therapy, and other alternative remedies. People living with chronic pain need to consult their GPs and herbal medicine practitioners first regarding the use of cannabis for managing chronic pain. This is to make sure the healthcare team taking care of them are aware of the use of cannabis and use of medicines for other health problems do not interact with the use of Cannabis. Based on the current literature and information regarding practice scenario, here are some clinical practice points for people who want to use Cannabis for chronic pain:

• Your clinicians may consider cannabis as a treatment option for chronic pain, but they will also weigh the potential risks and benefits carefully.
• If you are considering using cannabis for chronic pain you need to be aware of the potential risks, including addiction and cognitive impairment.
• Cannabis may be used as a complementary therapy to opioids for chronic pain, potentially reducing the amount of opioids needed.
• Cannabis use should be supervised by a healthcare professional.
• Further research is needed to fully understand the long-term effects of cannabis on health outcomes in chronic pain patients.