Ingredients that can work in combination with cannabis to relieve pain
Thousands of people turn to cannabis each year to relieve aches and pains that make it difficult to lead a good quality of life, and in many cases, it works to treat what ails them, but sometimes it wouldn’t hurt to throw in a few other natural elements that could help to reduce your discomfort even more. Cannabinoids are amazing, but if you combine them with these other all-natural ingredients, you might be surprised to find that you see significant improvements in how you feel.
1. Blueberries
Type of pain: Urinary tract infection
How it works: It might sound crazy, but if you’re suffering from UTI pain, then these small blue balls of sweet juice and natural sugar may be able to help. Blueberries can work to treat and prevent UTIs by preventing harmful bacteria from getting comfortable in the lining of your urinary tract or bladder, which reduces current symptoms as well as future risk of having an infection in the future.
2. Garlic
Type of pain: Earache
How it works: Garlic isn’t usually one of the most appealing ingredients in our kitchen, but it has some pretty potent anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and antibacterial properties that can work wonders on an active ear infection that is throbbing and swollen. Just cut the tip off a clove, wrap it in gauze, leaving the cup tip exposed, and then place it against the ear and either hold or tape it in place so that you can smoke a big fat joint while you wait for the pain to be gone.
3. Pineapple
Type of pain: Bloating
How it works: Do you know that feeling where you think that your stomach is about to explode? It generally happens after we eat either too much or foods that we have a sensitivity to, and it can be incredibly painful to deal with, but with pineapple on hand, you could be right as rain in no time. This fruit contains strong enzymes that help to break down the undigested protein in your stomach and ease the bloat that has you feeling terrible.
4. Cloves
Type of pain: Toothache
How it works: There isn’t much that’s worse than a really bad toothache, as it’s distracting, overwhelming, and impossible to ignore, and even the power of cannabis may be useless at best, or at worst, irritate it more. This is a problem that nearly everyone faces at some point or another, but there is no need to fear because if you stuff some dried cloves or a few drops of clove oil between the achy tooth and your cheek, it should help to reduce the inflammation, kill infection, take down swelling, and ease the pain.
5. Potato juice
Type of pain: Heartburn
How it works: It may not sound overly appealing, but when your guts and chest are under pressure, and you can feel the gas building from heartburn, you’ll do almost anything for relief, so it’s not a bad idea to keep a bit of the water that you get from some boiling potatoes around just in case. It works because it’s high alkaline, which significantly reduces things like acid reflux and other stomach related troubles.
6. Horseradish
Type of pain: Sinus pain
How it works: When you’re all stuffed up, you’ll notice that you can taste much, and then the pressure eventually turns into an irritating pain that won’t budge. This is likely due to a build-up of mucus, which is hard to move with products like Vicks as it actually thickens the mucus, but placing a little bit of horseradish in your mouth heats it so that it can naturally flow out, relieving the pressure and leaving you feeling so much better.
7. Turmeric
Type of pain: Chronic pain
How it works: Low doses of 500mg of Turmeric per day can help to prevent pain that may be experienced by those with chronic conditions such as arthritis, and large doses can reduce inflammation and reduce pain while improving overall joint and muscle health. It may be strong-smelling, but it’s absolutely delicious, and it’s great for your health, which makes it quite complimentary of the benefits of cannabis for anyone who suffers from chronic pain.
8. Cherries
Type of pain: Joint pain
How it works: Though we need to do more research before we can fully understand the dynamics behind why cherries seem to work so well for reducing joint pain, what we know now is that they are filled with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant called anthocyanins. This excellent treatment addition works well for chronic joint pain, gout patients, and those with osteoarthritis, plus they taste great when you’re high.
9. Water
Type of pain: Pain from injuries
How it works: On a good day, water is important, but it becomes essential when your body is trying to heal from an injury. Without proper levels of hydration, your body can’t send out liquid to clean up dead cells to make way for new ones, and it can’t access the necessary oxygen and nutrients needed to regenerate. In the case of injuries to the skin, collagen is called upon to repair the damage that could lead to scars, and it simply doesn’t exist without a good water source, so no matter what way you look at it, it’s good to stay hydrated, especially when you’re healing.
10. Peppermint
Type of pain: Muscle pain
How it works: Peppermint is an old remedy that can be used for all different types of pain from superficial to deeper muscle aches, thanks to its powerful analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic properties that can work to relieve muscle spasms and numb pain. Typically, it works best as an oil, but crumbling up some of the leaves and adding it to your favourite cream works well enough to create your very own homemade peppermint muscle cream.
