Many people would welcome a magical cure for all, especially those suffering from chronic pain, excessive anxiety, cancer-related symptoms, or difficult-to-treat neurological illnesses. So it’s no surprise that CBD oil appears in your search results. 

CBD oil is becoming increasingly popular, with a projected income of more than $20 billion by 2024. CBD oil is used both as a dietary supplement and as a topically applied oil.

So what is CBD oil, and is it safe to use?

What is CBD oil?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical substance that may affect your body, including some regions of the brain, and is gaining popularity in the medical community. It is made from the hemp flower. 

Unlike its companion, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is usually responsible for the “high” associated with cannabis. CBD is not intoxicating, and some believe it may have substantial health and well-being benefits. 

It is blended with a carrier oil like olive oil, hemp seed oil, or coconut oil after being harvested from the cannabis plant to increase bioavailability and create CBD oil.

What are the benefits of CBD oil?

CBD research is also expanding. Here are 7 ways CBD oil may boost your health.

1. It can help alleviate chronic pain.

CBD may reduce pain caused by inflammation, arthritis, and nerve damage by interacting with neurotransmitters in the central nervous system (peripheral neuropathy). Ongoing research in the United States indicates that CBD is useful in treating chronic pain. 

People with a nerve injury in the lower half of their body reported a substantial reduction in severe, sharp pain after using a topical CBD oil in a four-week experiment.

When CBD oil is used topically, it does not have the same effect when injected directly into your circulation. Topical CBD is more localized and helps you relieve  pain in a specific area. It may have a more noticeable impact since it is more direct.

However, there is still much to learn, including if CBD has any long-term negative consequences when used for pain management. If you take it uncontrolled, you don’t know how much is in it, and you’re not sure how it affects you outside of your specific pain.

2. You can use CBD for anxiety and depression.

CBD’s capacity to soothe is likely its most well-known benefit and the reason it is widely used. Anxiety and mood disorders such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder can significantly impact your everyday life. This causes physical and mental stress, leading to various underlying diseases such as sleep disturbances, high blood pressure, chronic pain, and heart disease.

It’s too early to know the extent of CBD’s benefits on anxiety and mood problems, although separate studies appear to show diverse favorable results. Researchers discovered that a 300-mg dosage of CBD significantly decreased social anxiety during a simulated public speaking exam in one trial of 57 males who took either oral CBD or a placebo drug 90 minutes before the test.

3. It helps alleviate arthritis symptoms.

Arthritis is often characterized by the degeneration of the tissues in and around the joints. Arthritis can be classified into numerous forms, and symptoms include stiffness, pain and loss of mobility. Pain reduction and increased joint function are generally what arthritis therapy tries to help with.

Animal research has shown that topical CBD treatments reduce arthritic pain and inflammation with minimal negative effects. CBD is helpful when applied topically because it is poorly absorbed if orally taken and might produce gastrointestinal adverse effects. 

Although topical CBD may be effective in treating arthritis, no substantial human trials have been conducted to support this claim.

4. Helps with neurological-related disorders 

The FDA authorized Epidiolex (a plant-based CBD formulation) in June 2018 to treat seizures in persons two years and older with Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), two uncommon types of epilepsy. CBD has also been studied for its potential use in various types of treatment-resistant epilepsy, generally in conjunction with traditional epilepsy drugs. 

The results varied, but numerous trials found that CBD decreased seizure frequency in most persons by around 44%. CBD can interact with other epileptic drugs, and several significant adverse effects have been documented, including a decline in liver function when administered to persons who are also taking valproate.

Other research suggests that CBD, which has neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory characteristics, may be effective in treating symptoms of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. More research is however needed, since most believe that a combination of CBD and other cannabinoids, rather than CBD alone, may help reduce most of these symptoms.

5. Acne

Research discovered that CBD stopped human sebocytes from producing excessive sebum while also acting as an anti-inflammatory agent, inhibiting inflammatory cytokines from activating. Because acne is characterized by excessive sebum and inflammation, topical CBD may be an effective therapy for acne and may prevent or minimize future outbreaks.

Topical CBD oil may help reduce acne-related inflammation and excessive sebum production, but additional research is needed.

6. Helps with insomnia

CBD improved sleep in 31% of individuals using it for other diseases such as anxiety or non-cancer pain. In an extensive case study of 72 patients, 48 (66.7%) reported improving sleep ratings during the first month. However, these varied with time.

Other trials with 300 mg of CBD in persons suffering from anxiety or depression revealed that CBD appeared to sustain the sleep cycle, indicating that it was unlikely to have any detrimental impacts on sleep quality.

7. It may help with cancer-related symptoms.

CBD may aid with chemotherapy-induced nausea, vomiting, and weight loss. The FDA has authorized three cannabis-related medications to help reduce these symptoms and enhance appetite in AIDS patients. These medications include some THC or synthetic THC and are not solely CBD.

However, other studies appear to imply that CBD can help reduce tumor size and limit the spread of malignant cells in skin, breast, prostate, and other cancers. Further human clinical studies, like with other areas of research, are required to fully understand the effect CBD has on various types of cancer.