The athlete’s treasured tool is his body. In sports, an athlete’s body is under constant wear and tear. With that said, they often employ several healing techniques and pain management to get through training, tournaments, marathons, and so on.
Pain management for athletes means the constant urge to use over-the-counter painkillers (for quick relief), but it’s not a good idea to be fully dependent on them as it can pose serious health threats in the long run.
Athletes are looking for more organic ways of managing their pain and one of which is CBD (cannabidiol) oil.
Some of the most known benefits of CBD for athletes
Relieves pain
Cannabinoids like CBD and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) can be effective agents for reducing pain from exercise and even osteoarthritis. Their influence on the human endocannabinoid system is key in reducing pain because they mainly inhibit inflammation (which has the key role in the sensation of pain).
THC has more literature on its belt, claiming its effectiveness in inducing an analgesic effect but CBD is a more popular choice because it’s non-psychoactive.
A good alternative to NSAIDs
Over-the-counter NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are included in an athlete’s basic arsenal. It proves to be effective in most cases, but it has developmental side effects like renal damage, stroke, heart attack, and so on.
Athletes find CBD as a good alternative for NSAIDs. They find themselves using CBD more than NSAIDs for training-related pain because of its minimal side effects.
In a study titled The Essentials of Pain Medicine, Fourth Ed., they said, “There are no documented deaths from cannabis or cannabinoid-based products. In a systematic review of studies of oral and oral-mucosal cannabis for various medical conditions, the majority of adverse events reports were considered non-serious (96.6%).”
A good alternative to opioids
According to the CDC or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid usage led to the death of 42,000 individuals in 2016, within the US alone. Opioid medications such as i.e., morphine, codeine, oxycontin are highly effective in relieving pain. However, these types of medications trigger addiction and death if wrongly dosed.
Cannabinoids like CBD are not as quick-relieving as opioids, but they have lesser and tolerable side effects. CBD is best suited for long-term healing, either alone or in combination with other non-invasive drugs.