According to Arthritis By The Numbers (PDF), published by the Arthritis Foundation, “Common arthritis joint symptoms include swelling, pain, stiffness and decreased range of motion. Symptoms may come and go, and can be mild, moderate or severe. They may stay about the same for years but may progress or get worse over time.”
Arthritis is a set of symptoms, not a disease. It is an inflammation of the joints, and at the risk of oversimplifying, there are two main causes: wear and tear (osteoarthritis) and autoimmune response (rheumatoid arthritis). I say “at the risk of oversimplifying” because there are more than 100 types of arthritis. So nobody talks about curing arthritis, but there’s a lot of talk (including television commercials for pain medications) about treating it.
Fighting Inflammation
Treating arthritis means reducing the inflammation, which reduces the pain and swelling and increases range of motion. While reducing the inflammation of arthritis is a laudable goal in itself, it is also a means to an end. Reducing a patient’s arthritis inflammation makes it possible for the patient to be more active. A more active patient can exercise, increasing strength and tone of muscles, which can take some pressure off the joints, thus further improving the health of the arthritis sufferer.
Peak Recovery & Health Center offers at least three services that have been clinically proven to help with arthritis: infrared sauna, photobiomodulation, and cryotherapy. Recently, we introduced a product that can supplement these offerings. Our Calm Cream is a way to use CBD for arthritis pain. It helps to sooth aches and pains by relieving inflammation in muscles and joints. It does this with 110mg of Hemp/CBD.
Clinical Studies
Nobody is going to prescribe this cream for your arthritis. It has been used for centuries by natural healers, but it hasn’t yet been through the clinical studies that would introduce it into the conventional medical portfolio. Nevertheless, a 2016 report in the European Journal of Pain found a CBD gel relieved arthritis pain in rats. The researchers induced arthritis in the rats and then applied CBD gel to their joints. They found “transdermal CBD gel significantly reduced joint swelling, limb posture scores as a rating of spontaneous pain, immune cell infiltration and thickening of the synovial membrane in a dose-dependent manner.”
You are not a rat, and your arthritis was certainly not induced by lab researchers. But the ordeal of those rats can benefit you. Consider Calm Cream as a way to temporarily reduce joint swelling and spontaneous pain. CBD is universally considered to be safe when taken by mouth and more so when applied to the skin. But it has a few drug interactions, so you may want to speak with your doctor before trying it.
Calm Cream as a Supplemental Aid
We have infrared sauna, photobiomodulation, and cryotherapy here at Peak to help with your arthritis. But there may be times that you are unable to get here to use these technologies. For those times, consider keeping a jar of Calm Cream on hand. You may be able to reduce joint swelling and relieve pain until you can get here. Pick up a jar the next time you come for a session.
