After the infection goes away, shingles can cause excruciating, burning rashes and viral nerve pain that lasts anywhere from a few weeks to several years. Fortunately, medical marijuana may help reduce shingles-related inflammation and chronic pain. Additionally, CBD might have antibacterial and antiviral qualities. However, in order to use marijuana to treat your shingles pain, you need a medical marijuana card, which allows you to legally access marijuana and protects you from facing legal issues.
What you should know about shingles and its symptoms is covered in this article, along with how medical marijuana may be able to help with related pain and skin damage.
What Are the Causes of Shingles?
The varicella-zoster virus, which also causes chickenpox, is the cause of the painful shingles disease. Although anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles, it is most common in those over 50. The virus that causes chickenpox remains dormant in the body for years after an infection, and only one in three people will get it again in their lifetime.
Mild to severe pain and persistent itching, typically on one side of the face or body, are early signs of shingles. After one to fourteen days, rashes or blisters may develop anywhere. Rashes usually go away in a few weeks, but shingles can cause pain that lingers for weeks, months, or even years.
Additional signs of shingles include:
- Itching
- Headaches
- Blisters filled with fluid
- Fatigue
- Fevers
- Sensitivity to light or touch
The virus that causes shingles spreads by direct contact with the rash rather than through the air like other infectious diseases do. A person who has never had chickenpox, usually a child, would contract chickenpox rather than shingles if the virus were to infect them.
Conventional Treatments for Shingles
Although there is no known cure for shingles, early medication treatment can help combat the virus and avoid chronic pain. Doctors advise people 60 years of age and older to get a shingles vaccine, which may also prevent the disease or lessen its effects.
How Marijuana Provides Relief for Shingles Pain
The virus attacks nerve cells, which contributes to some of the pain associated with shingles. When shingles strikes, conventional painkillers like morphine usually don’t work because the virus ruins the receptors that would normally allow these drugs to work. Moreover, despite the fact that opioids are occasionally prescribed to treat neuropathic pain, or nerve pain, there is little evidence of their effectiveness, and they have negative side effects that may outweigh any advantages.
Nonetheless, the endocannabinoid system (ECS) is involved in the immune system, skin cells, nerve fibers, and pain receptors, among other bodily systems. Because it interacts with the ECS receptors, medical cannabis can effectively alleviate shingles pain in situations where other opioid-based medications are ineffective.
Additionally, studies have demonstrated that medical cannabis can alleviate the severe itching or inflammation linked to shingles and other skin disorders like acne and eczema. Itching sensations are caused by the binding of cannabinoids to the skin’s transient receptor potential (TRP) channels and cannabinoid receptors. In addition to this study, other research has demonstrated that cannabis topicals have anti-inflammatory effects on the skin.
More studies support the idea that cannabis can alter the immune system and change how it reacts to bacteria or viruses. Research on the antiviral properties of cannabinoids is still lacking, despite some evidence that cannabis has antimicrobial properties.
Researchers have also looked into CBD’s ability to combat viruses. Few studies have examined CBD’s potential to treat herpes simplex or the varicella-zoster virus, despite a 2020 review that examined research on hepatitis C and other viruses. CBD may be a helpful treatment for shingles-related nerve pain because of its capacity to alter inflammation and the immune system.
Modest antiviral activity against some viruses, including herpes simplex viruses, is one of the therapeutic benefits of other cannabis constituents like flavonoids and terpenes.
Using Cannabis for Shingles Pain Relief
It may be possible for medical cannabis to alleviate shingles pain, nerve cell inflammation, and burning or itching sensations.
Topicals, which target localized pain by directly acting on cannabinoid receptors in the skin, offer numerous advantages of cannabis for shingles. Higher concentrations of CBD in balms, creams, or salves may reduce pain and some of the itching that comes with shingles rashes.
Since edibles provide stronger effects over a longer time span than smoking or vaping, other patients report using them to treat shingles pain. However, faster-acting relief is provided by absorption through the lungs, which could be advantageous for people who need to treat severe shingles pain right away.
Cannabis Strains for Shingles Pain Relief
The following strains (chemotypes or cultivars) provide good pain relief from shingles:
- Blue Dream
- Super Skunk
- Maui Waui
- Super Lemon Haze
- Tangerine Kush
Please be aware that the information above is merely anecdotal and that no specific cannabis variety is always appropriate for a given ailment. People differ in their endocannabinoid systems, or “endocannabinoid tone,” so what works for one may not work for another.
Final Words!
In order to alleviate the pain and itching that come with having shingles, many people turn to medical cannabis. Medical marijuana can greatly reduce shingles pain and discomfort, despite the fact that the disease has no known cure and can be a painful skin condition. We always recommend speaking with medical marijuana doctors Cincinnati before incorporating marijuana into your treatment plan to ease the pain and discomfort associated with shingles. After assessing your medical condition, a physician will recommend whether or not marijuana is beneficial for you.
