How Cannabis can Help Women Specifically

The wonderful thing about medical marijuana is that it is a natural and risk free way to treat a variety of physical and mental health conditions, and this applies to both men and women. Unsurprisingly, there are a variety of ways in which medical marijuana can serve as an alternate treatment option for various women’s health issues, including menstruation, fatigue, PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) and many others! Today in this article we are going to be talking about cannabis and its effectiveness at relieving discomfort and pain for women undergoing a lot of different problems. Our modern society in the United States has recently begun to place increased emphasis on taking care of our bodies and minds, especially in the wake of pandemic.

What this means is that there are a lot of things we are learning about how to take care of ourselves, and today we are going to be talking about how medical marijuana fits into that picture (hint: it fits really well!) So without further ado, let’s look at a few ways that medical marijuana can help women dealing with pain and discomfort. Also, I forgot to mention that, in many states, reproductive pain, migraines, and other signs of inflammation often qualify as chronic pain conditions through the medical marijuana program. While this is different from state to state, it is something worth looking into if any of these issues apply to you or a loved one.

One of the biggest issues that women unfairly have to deal with is that of menstruation. As a man myself, I cannot imagine having to deal with the symptoms of nausea, headaches, fatigue, and cramping that so many women do during their time of the month. It’s no wonder that so many women look forward to the menopause stage of life when they do not have to worry about those symptoms ever again! One of the common side effects of menstruation is bloating. Bloating occurs in the body when there is painful swelling and fluid retention, often found in the ankles, feet, and legs. Bloating and inflammation can also occur in the abdominal area, also referred to as cramps!

Some women experience mild and irregular cramping, while others have to deal with excruciating pain that is debilitating and can keep them from being able to function in their day to day lives. So can marijuana help with cramps and bloating? Well, unlike some other medications and treatments for women dealing with menstruation, marijuana does not block the production of prostaglandin, which are the lipids that impact hormone health and trigger period cramps. However, THC is known to provide pain relief in the form of releasing dopamine (happiness hormone) throughout the body and can change the brain's perception of the pain it is experiencing. CBD, another component of cannabis, is also known to help naturally reduce inflammation and can relax uterine muscles, which in turn can reduce the intensity of cramps.

Another issue that many women struggle with is chronic fatigue. While most of us are feeling tired these days, chronic fatigue is a whole different world. Chronic fatigue is when your energy levels are simply not there, no matter how much rest and relaxation you can get on the weekends or in the evenings. For many women, dealing with chronic fatigue becomes a daily battle of just trying to get through the day. One of the first steps in treating your chronic fatigue is to determine the cause, which can be rooted in various other health problems. Some of these include depression, thyroid disorder, vitamin deficiencies, heart disease, sleep apnea, anemia, and others.

Did You Know: Using CBD Oil for Pain

Until you have lived with chronic pain yourself, or know someone close to you who has had to live with it, you truly cannot understand it. I have been blessed to not have to experience it in my lifetime yet, and I am hoping that I never do. In the United States, it is estimated that roughly 12% of all prescriptions filled are related to some sort of pain relief. Also, opioid use and addiction has become so prevalent in the United States that many public health officials are looking for a way for medical patients to find other pain relieving alternatives.

That is why we are getting closer and closer to witnessing medical marijuana being legalized on a federal level. This is because cannabis is generally considered a natural and risk free alternative to opioids, and it can do a lot of the things that opioids do without the withdrawal symptoms, addiction, and possible overdosing. Cannabis has been used as a medicinal plant long before the formation of modern civilization, and it wasn’t until the mid 1900s that it became so heavily stigmatized that it was labeled as a controlled substance.

Thankfully, we are slowly but surely making our way back to having access to medical and recreational marijuana, but there is still a lot of progress to go in order to have equality of compassionate care in the United States. Some of the better news that the pro-cannabis community has gotten in the last decade or so is the National Academies of Science study on the use of medical marijuana for a variety of health conditions. There is a lot of research that suggests cannabis may be able to relieve cancer-related pain, migraines, and other painful conditions. 

Medical marijuana could really be the new treatment option when it comes to managing pain in a variety of chronic health and pain conditions. One of the leading methods of using cannabis as a treatment option is through CBD topicals, because of their effectiveness, portability, and discreteness. There are a lot of medical marijuana patients out there who don’t want to be associated with smoking marijuana regularly, which I understand. For those people, using topicals and creams has become a great option, especially for patients struggling with arthritis pain. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States, and there are currently over 50 million Americans struggling with this disease. Several studies that have been done over the past few years have suggested the use of CBD oil as an effective treatment method for managing arthritis pain with both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA).

CBD refers to cannabinoids, which is the part of the cannabis plant that can help reduce inflammation and relax joints and muscles, as well as reduce levels of pain. What this means is that medical patients finally have an effective means of treating their arthritis pain naturally and do not have to rely on prescription medications that can have some nasty side effects.

Many medical patients with arthritis, either RA or OA, have lived through many years of marijuana’s stigma as an illegal substance. With that being said, many of these people are not wanting to associate themselves with cannabis for fear of being looked down upon. However, I am hoping to live in an American society that values and protects the right to use medical marijuana instead of demonizing it. That is all I have to write about today, so come back tomorrow to find some more great articles about all things cannabis related! Like I always say - live, laugh, love, marijuana.