Painkilling drugs, like many pharmaceuticals, have come under fire for their harmful side effects.
Despite these well-documented effects, pharmaceuticals still have a monopoly over the health business and have even come between natural products and FDA approval.
However, cannabis has been gaining a steady voice in the world of the medical research and can no longer be ignored as a healing powerhouse (1).
As more states have legalized this healing herb, it’s created a market for specialized medicinal products, including marijuana-based menstrual products (2).
Cannabis Pain Relief
The best-known women’s product currently on the market is called Foria Relief, a vaginal suppository.
The product, available as a 4-pack, is inserted to maximize the muscle relaxing and pain relieving properties of cannabis without inducing a psychotropic “high”. The product is made from organic fair trade cocoa butter and distilled THC oil made from organically grown hemp (3).
The company tests all their products for potency, pesticides, and residual solvents and microbials during the manufacturing process. The products also preservative-free.
It hopes to rival commonly used products like Vicodin, Midol, and Ibuprofen.
How It Works
The suppositories contain both THC and CBD, two active cannabinoids that impact the immune system to reduce inflammation, and affect the nerve endings of the uterus, cervix, ovaries and surrounding smooth muscle tissues to block pain signals and ease cramps (4,5,6,7).
“When a woman experiences menstrual cramps, the uterus is contracting…The muscle goes into spasm, and it releases inflammatory mediators that exacerbate pain. Cannabis, in general, works to relieve muscle spasms by increasing blood flow and decreasing muscle contractions. When you increase blood flow, you help to restore oxygenation to the tissue, thereby decreasing inflammation and lessening discomfort.”
“When a medicine is delivered through the mucosa of the vagina, rather than orally or [as] a topical treatment, it is directly absorbed into the bloodstream,” Dr. Berman told Broadly.
Many of Floria’s customers swear by the product, but, so far, the FDA has yet to approve of its medicinal value.
Foria’s success has inspired new products including raw sipping chocolates, topical rubs, tinctures, and bath soaks that ease period cramps (8). For all we know, painful menstrual cramps may soon be a thing of the past!
credit:420intel.com