Medical Cannabis For Cramping In Your Neck

Published by Editorial Staff at July 30, 2018

Neck pain is discomfort in the structures of your neck muscles that is caused by muscle fatigue and muscle dehydration. Someone who suffers from neck pain will have a difficult time moving their neck due to involuntary muscle contraction. This in turn can cause headaches and severe pain. Neck spasms can last minutes, hours or even days until your muscles relax.

Causes Of Neck Cramps

There are many ways in which someone can suffer from a neck cramp. Some can be acquired from bad habits or even medical conditions. Some examples of the causes neck cramps are:

Muscle strains: Lifting heavy boxes suddenly can be a cause of neck cramps. Sudden force can bring a heavy burden to the body. Repetitive and continuous neck movements such as hunching on your desk and smartphones can cause this injury.
Accidents: Accidents happen a lot, and are inevitable in day to day life. There are many examples of accidents that take place regularly. Sports injuries are one. Whiplash is another. This is a very common injury acquired during a car crash that damages the muscle, soft tissues and ligaments on your neck.
Poor Posture: Having poor posture can lead to neck pains, hunching over homework or your desk at work, sleeping in an uncomfortable position and even the way you use your neck while you exercise. Developing a good posture may help you to prevent getting neck pains.
Medical Conditions: Neck pains can also be a symptom of a more severe problem. The neck is connected to the spine, which means what happens with the neck might be related to the spine and cervical spine. Medical conditions such as arthritis in the spine, a bulging disc, and pinched nerves are just a few examples of what might be causing your neck cramps.

Medical cannabis, commonly known as medical cannabis, is the name given to cannabis which is used for medicinal purposes. There are over 100 different active chemical compounds in the cannabis plant, two of these are known to hold medical properties. These are CBD and THC.

THC is the psychoactive component of a cannabis plant. This is the chemical that makes the user feel “high”.
CBD is used for medical purposes and is known to treat a wide variety of ailments. In particular, it is known to contain anti-inflammatory properties, pain relief properties and antibacterial properties.

Medical Cannabis For Treating Neck Pains

Since medical cannabis has anti-inflammatory properties, it can be used to treat neck pains by reducing inflammation. This in turn can relieve muscle tension which is what causes the pain.

The body contains natural cannabinoids produced by our own brain receptors called the endocannabinoid receptors. CBD is like the motivator for the endocannabinoid receptors. It motivates our receptors to create more cannabinoids.

These cannabinoids are believed to be strongly linked to skin health, brain health, pain and mood. By using medical cannabis, the increase in cannabinoids helps to regulate pain in the body.

This could be used effectively to prevent neck cramps or to treat them, especially if you are someone who suffers from them regularly as a result of an illness or poor posture.

The effectiveness of the marijuana plant is quite impressive for neck pain, once dosing is properly regulated. The fact that it is an anti-inflammatory means it can prevent the pain from occuring. The fact that it regulates pain means it can treat existing pain.

Taking Medical Cannabis

There are many methods for using medical cannabis. When considering which method is right for you, consider how often you plan to use it, where you will be at the time and how quickly you’ll need it to take effect. Some of the most common methods include:

Digestion: Digesting medical cannabis can help reduce pain caused by neck cramps. This method takes about 20 minutes or even up to 60 minutes to kick in, depending on how fast your metabolism is.
Smoking: This is one of the quickest ways to relieve muscle spasms. There are many types of medical cannabis and each have different characteristics and dosage. Smoking marijuana will usually take five to ten minutes before working but this can vary from strain to strain.
Topical application: Topically applying medical cannabis with creams and/or oils is not the fastest way to feel the effects. However, this method allows the effects to be highly localized to the area where pain is felt. It will also last longer because the skin takes a longer period of time to absorb it.

Side Effects Of Using Medicinal Cannabis

All drugs have side-effects. Including natural and herbal drugs. Since cannabis is relatively new to the medical field, the long term side effects of consuming the drug are still unknown.

Some preliminary studies have been carried out to investigate this. They consistently suggest that the drug is safe to use. However, until more research is done into the long term side effects of medical cannabis, we can’t be too sure.

The most common short-term side-effects are:

Dry mouth: The endocannabinoid receptors alter the saliva production of our body, leaving an unpleasant dry sensation in our mouths. Drinking a lot of water and keeping yourself hydrated will help combat this.
Low blood pressure: Taking high doses of medicinal cannabis can result in a very small drop in blood pressure. If you are careful with your dosage though, this should not be an issue.
Drowsiness or Lightheadedness: Drowsiness or lightheadedness is connected to the sudden small drop in blood pressure. Again, responsible use will avoid this effect.

Neck pains can be easily prevented if not connected to or the result of a medical condition. You can prevent suffering from neck pain by maintaining good posture, flexing the neck and improving your sleeping position. However, if neck cramps are a regular part of your day to day life, finding the best treatment for you is important. This could be medical cannabis.

If you are considering using medical cannabis to treat neck cramps, make sure to chat with your family doctor about it first. This is so that he or she can recommend the right course of action for you.

Also, keep in mind that medical cannabis is only legal in some states so checking the laws of your state in relation to it should be your first priority. If you are lucky enough to live in a cannabis-friendly state, you can go from there.