HEALTH / WELLNESS
C H RO N I C PA I N B Y K AT I E W E I T M A N
Cannabis has been used to treat pain for hundreds of years. In fact, there is reference to the use of cannabis for pain management in all major ancient cultures from China to the Middle East, from Africa to Europe and the Americas. The earliest references to cannabis as medicine are believed to have come from the Pen Ts’ao, a medical text compiled by Chinese emperor ShenNung—known as the father of Chinese medicine. In 200 CE, Hua T’ao, a Chinese surgeon who reportedly pioneered complex surgeries such as organ grafts and intestinal resections, was said to use a preparation of wine and cannabis resin called ma-yo as an incredibly effective anesthetic that rendered his complex surgeries painless. The Scythians (a group of tribes living on the borders of what are now Asia and Russia) are said to have been the first to bring cannabis from the Orient to the western world. The Mesopotamians in the Middle East and the Egyptians in North Africa both benefited from this migration and used cannabis topicals to treat inflammation. It is even supposed by some that references in the New Testament regarding Jesus’s healing powers are references to cannabis—for instance, the line in Acts of Thomas, “Thou holy oil given unto us for sanctification […] thou art the straightener of the crooked limbs.”
Cannabis continued its westward march up into the common era, and as late as the early 19th century, it was used by most cultures—including our own—for various types of pain, including, but not limited to, headaches, inflammation/arthritis, neuropathic pain, menstrual cramps, and labor pains. In 1859, Sir John Russell Reynolds, physician to Queen Victoria, wrote that, “For the relief of certain kinds of pain […] there is no more useful medicine than cannabis within our reach.” Today chronic pain—defined as pain which occurs 100+ days a year—is the most common diagnosis cannabis is used to treat. Since its popularity and availability in modern western medicine have grown over the past 10+ years, many who suffer pain of all types have begun using CBD and/or THC or whole plant medicines to try and experience relief without the heinous side effects that come along with other treatments. ‘Pain’ can be broken down into two categories: ‘nociceptive’ pain and ‘neuropathic’ pain. ‘Nociceptive’ pain is defined as pain signaling impending or actual tissue damage. ‘Neuropathic’ pain refers to pain caused by the nervous system itself. Because of its antiinflammatory, neuroprotective, and muscle relaxant qualities, cannabis shows promise for the treatment of MAINECANNABISCHRONICLE.COM
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