Neuropathy is a condition that plagues millions all over the globe, with the numbers in the United States itself hitting as high as 20 million. Peripheral neuropathy can be best explained as the damage to the peripheral nervous system, which is the linkage between the central nervous system viz. the spine and the brain, and the rest of the human body. With the numbers affected this high, it is of paramount importance to come up with a means to control and stabilize it. We will be looking at the natural lifesaving medication, CBD, which has shown an immense potential of becoming the one single herbal medication that will help those suffering from this. Read on…
Understanding Peripheral Neuropathy: Its Cause And Symptoms
For an ailment of this sort, the causes are potentially many. A few of the ones are:
- Autoimmune disease
- Hormonal imbalances
- Certain sorts of chemotherapy drugs and cancers
- Diabetes and high sugar
- Physical trauma to the body
- Kidney and liver problems
All of these problems can be troublesome on their own, but simply adding peripheral neuropathy to the mix can eat away at your quality of life drastically. When peripheral neuropathy involves damage to the sensory and motor nerves, it causes uncontrollable twitches, spasms, cramps, and general weakness.
Damage to any of the sensory nerves belonging to the brain-spinal cord linkage can lead to life-changing symptoms, as these are essential for everyday tasks such as balance, sense of touch, and sense of pain. These damages can result in increased sensitivity to pain and doing a poor job in pain management. When autonomic nerves are damaged, the symptoms are amplified and you may have to deal with blood pressure issues, gastro troubles and difficulty in bowel movement, profuse sweating, and many more.
All of this sounds horrid. How do you go about reversing and treating peripheral neuropathy?
What Are The Treatment Options For Peripheral Neuropathy?
Sadly, modern medical science is not modern enough to reverse the effects of peripheral neuropathy. There are talks of research that will help regrow and reverse the damaged nerves, but that is far from being implemented in any operation theatre and the only thesis is being put up at the moment.
For the moment, it is important to alleviate the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy; a few ways to do that is to use mechanical aids such as foot braces, consuming painkillers and other medications to lower the nerve response, taking part in transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy and sometimes surgery in some rare cases.
There are also plenty of natural and non-invasive ways to help lower the intensity of peripheral neuropathy by means of herbal medication, regular massages, acupuncture, and many more. Of all of these, one which is of particular interest to us is CBD.
CBD: A Natural Way To Combat Peripheral Neuropathy
CBD is a therapeutic substance that makes up one of the many active substances found in legal hemp and marijuana. CBD use helps reduce the symptoms and helps in better pain management. It does all of this and more without the risk of you feeling drowsy or intoxicated. Unlike any painkillers out there, the risk of falling prey to addiction is very minimal. Even if you are trying to pull yourself away from using painkillers, you are sure to experience withdrawals and the urge to hitch back on. There are no such issues with CBD full-spectrum hemp extract, as CBD is not only non-addictive but it is non-psychoactive as well.
CBD works its magic in the same way that the body’s natural endocannabinoids do. The central nervous system including the brain and the spinal cord are linked to what is called the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Similar to the central nervous system, there are many others such as the endocrine system (responsible for balancing hormonal secretions), the immune system, the cardiovascular and circulatory systems. You may have noticed that many of the causes for peripheral neuropathy are linked to the systems that are linked to the ECS.
The CBD works by interacting with several key receptor sites that are a part of the ECS. When it binds onto the CB1 and CB2 receptors of the ECS, it creates many effects such as the anti-inflammatory response. CBD helps reset the endocrine system, which allows for correcting the hormonal imbalance. CBD also binds with the CO-X2 receptor site, which is responsible for firing off an inflammatory response that causes swelling and additional pain. CBD helps dull and slow down the nerve impulses that cause pain; this allows better pain management and gives a sigh of relief for the user. CBD helps in calming the nerves and soothing anxiety and stress; all these activities work against the body in halting recovery and cause a fall in cortisol levels. This creates a domino effect and further causes you to spiral out of control mentally.