Over the last few years, CBD has evolved from an obscure hemp substance into a household name. With CBD now being used for everything from arthritis to anxiety, it should come as no surprise that this cannabinoid has also become popular among the 70,000 Americans who miss work every year due to tendonitis. What causes tendonitis, what are its symptoms, and why do people with this painful inflammatory condition now so commonly turn to CBD for help?
What is Tendonitis?
Tendonitis is a condition caused by inflammation in your tendons, cords of thick tissue that connect your muscles to your bones. The tendonitis can be chronic, it is usually caused by overuse of the affected joint. Most commonly experienced by athletes, it’s natural that location-specific forms of tendonitis are often known by sports-related names like tennis elbow, swimmer’s shoulder, and jumper’s knee.
What are the Symptoms of Tendonitis?
Tendonitis usually manifests as pain in the area where the affected tendon meets the bone. Distinct from muscle pain, which is generally felt throughout the affected muscle, tendonitis is a sharper pain that can often feel like it’s occurring inside your bone. Tendonitis pain gets worse when you move the affected joint, and it’s common to feel a grating sensation in your tendon as well. Joints affected by tendonitis often swell and may appear red or feel hot.
What Reduces Inflammation in Tendons?
People with tendonitis take a variety of approaches to reducing this often-excruciating form of joint pain. Simply applying an ice pack to the joint often relieves tendonitis inflammation to a degree, and medical providers commonly suggest using over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen or aspirin.
Chronic tendonitis, also known as tendinosis, involves a gradual degeneration of the affected tendon. This long-lasting form of tendonitis is commonly treated with steroid injections or surgery. Since they often deliver less-than-ideal results, individuals suffering from both acute and chronic forms of tendonitis have recently begun turning to natural remedies like CBD for help.
What is CBD Oil?
CBD oil is a natural substance derived from hemp. It contains high concentrations of the non-intoxicating cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD), which has been researched intensively for a wide variety of different benefits. Lacking intoxicating properties, CBD also does not appear to have any significant side effects. Due to the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD is generally considered to be an industrial hemp product, not an illegal drug.
Is CBD Considered an Anti-Inflammatory?
Even before this cannabinoid became widely available on the internet circa 2014, CBD had already been researched for its potential anti-inflammatory properties. Research into CBD’s usefulness for inflammation kicked into high gear over subsequent years, and these days, this cannabinoid’s potential to help with inflammation is one of the primary reasons scientists continue to study CBD. Encouraged by both scientific research and anecdotal testimony, countless thousands of people have now tried CBD for inflammation, and they often report incredible results.
Can CBD Help with Tendonitis?
As an acute inflammatory condition, there’s plenty of basis to research CBD as a potential treatment for tendonitis. At this point, no studies have been conducted into CBD for tendonitis specifically, but scientists have looked into the potential link between CBD and pain relief. In the case of tendonitis, researchers are particularly interested in CBD’s potential activity at the body’s TRP neuroreceptors, which control inflammation and inflammatory pain. If you’re experiencing tendonitis and don’t want to rely on conventional treatments, trying CBD is definitely worth a shot.
What is the Best Type of CBD for Tendonitis?
Since tendonitis is a condition that is usually limited to a specific area of the body, using an orally ingested CBD product might not be the most appropriate approach. Instead, most people experiencing tendonitis symptoms rely on topical CBD products, which deliver the benefits of this cannabinoid directly to a particular area of the body. Since they absorb into deeper tissues more effectively, you might prefer water-based CBD topicals over oil-based options.
CBD for Tendonitis: The Bottom Line
Even though medical technology has advanced so much, sometimes the most natural options are still the best. CBD may not have taken decades to develop in a laboratory, but nonetheless, it’s still one of today’s most relied upon approaches to tendonitis.
Lacking major side effects and often reported to provide incredible results, there’s no reason you shouldn’t give CBD a try the next time swimmer’s shoulder or tennis elbow strikes. Just make sure to choose a product that comes with lab reports, has plenty of customer reviews, and features broad-spectrum or full-spectrum CBD extract.
