If we have learned anything from the past few years, is that our health shouldn’t be taken for granted. Every day, we have the opportunity to eat foods, choose activities, and use products that help us reach higher levels of health and wellness.
In recent years, a category of products has entered the health and wellness market, carving out a space that once seemed impossible or even unethical. These products all contain cannabis: cannabis edibles, drinks, vapes, and topicals.
Cannabis topicals are especially popular: they are discreet, more likely to be legal in states that still haven’t embraced marijuana, and offer fantastic benefits for the body and mind. If you have not smoked pot or used a CBD dropper before, you may find that cannabis topicals are a wonderful introduction to this quickly-growing group of products that are assisting people to achieve incredible wellness.
What Are Cannabis Topicals?
“Topicals” are any type of product that is applied directly to the skin. You probably use topicals every day, even if you don’t know it. Lotions, ,lip balms, and sprays all fall under the category of “topicals.”
What’s So Special About Cannabis Topicals?
What makes cannabis topicals different is – you guessed it – they contain cannabis!
“Cannabis” is a plant and an umbrella term that covers what you may know as both hemp and marijuana. Although both hemp and marijuana have amazing benefits when they are applied ,directly to the skin, there are some major differences to understand when shopping for cannabis topicals.
Hemp is a plant that contains .03 percent THC. Marijuana (as well as THC concentrates) contain over .03 percent THC – sometimes up to 25 or 28 percent! THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the cannabinoid in cannabis that gets you high. Ingesting hemp won’t get you high, but ingesting marijuana will. (Ingesting marijuana and hemp can be done by smoking, vaping, dabbing, or taking edibles.)
This difference may not make a difference as you’re applying topicals, but it may make a difference in where you ,buy topicals. In states like California, cannabis topicals of all kinds are completely legal. Outside of the state, hemp or CBD topicals may be the only type of cannabis topicals that you will be able to purchase or ship.
The Importance of Cannabis In Wellness
For years, cannabis was vilified, and its illegal status certainly didn’t help its reputation. But as it turns out, the benefits of this plant, whether you get high from it or not, are hard to deny. Legalizing cannabis has allowed many people to achieve incredible wellness – and it’s all thanks to a system in the body called the endocannabinoid system.
The endocannabinoid system works like many other systems in the body (digestive, cardiovascular system, etc.) Endocannabinoids are certain neurotransmitters that bind to cannabinoid receptor proteins. All of this naturally occurs in the body, every day. Your endocannabinoid system is working right now! These endocannabinoids travel throughout the central and peripheral nervous system to help your body with ,various functions, like:
Learning and memory processing
Appetite
Sleep regulation
Emotional regulation
Temperature control
Inflammatory control
Pain control
If that sounds like a lot of functions, you’re right. There are other systems that play a role in these functions, and there is still more to learn about the endocannabinoid system, but we do know that there is incredible potential for cannabis to assist with these functions.
In fact, we’re seeing the results of this already.
Endocannabinoid certainly sounds a lot like the word “cannabinoid,” which is used to describe THC. In fact, the reason the ECS has its name is that scientists discovered how it works while researching THC. Cannabinoids are very similar to the endocannabinoids that we produce naturally in our bodies and work with cannabinoid receptors in similar ways. That is, in part, why people may find that they sleep better, feel hungry, or experience ,pain relief after using cannabis.
THC isn’t the only cannabinoid at work when you consume or apply cannabis. Cannabis plants contain up to ,100 cannabinoids, including:
THC
CBD
CBG
CBC
Applying these cannabinoids to the skin can have amazing effects!
Will Cannabis Topicals Get You High?
Even if your cannabis topicals contain THC, you won’t get stoned from applying lotion to your arms and legs. THC has to reach your bloodstream in order to reach your brain. You may be able to purchase a transdermal patch that contains THC and reaches your bloodstream, but these are separate products from ,cannabis topicals like lotions or balms.
The Benefits of Cannabis Topicals
So why would you want to use cannabis topicals? They are more than just self-care products, although they can certainly be used for that purpose. In addition to bath bombs and other topicals that relax the mind, body, and spirit, cannabis topicals can provide pain relief and help the body with its inflammatory response.
Cannabis Topicals and Pain
Do you experience joint pain, nerve pain, or menstrual cramps? You may want to consider using cannabis topicals. These products offer localized relief to the areas where you apply them, as cannabinoids help to regulate inflammation that may cause swelling and pain. Balms, salves, ,body butters, and lotions may be used to treat:
Headaches and neckaches
Menstrual cramps
RA pain
Tendonitis
Soreness and aches
General chronic pain
All of these conditions may be kept under control or treated with the help of cannabis and cannabinoids! And because this plant is grown from the Earth, side effects are mild at best. People who once relied on painkillers or opioids to treat pain may use cannabis as a safer option.
Skin Redness and Inflammation
Inflammation in the body may have other side effects, including redness or swelling on the face. Cannabis is increasingly added to various ,skincare products (moisturizers, cleansers, ,face masks, etc.) to treat conditions such as:
Acne
Rosacea
Eczema
Psoriasis
Ready to Try Cannabis Topicals?
Although cannabis topicals may be found at your local dispensary or health foods store, people in states like California have even easier access to these products. ,Order online today to get cannabis topicals delivered right to your door!