Medical Cannabis Effective for Orthopedic Pain

This paper was published online ahead of print in November 2021 in Cannabis & Cannabinoid Research. It examined the effectiveness of cannabis medicine for pain associated with orthopedic issues.

The types of orthopedic pain reported were chronic low back, multifaceted pain (e.g., fibromyalgia and neuropathies), followed by neck and joint pain. The patients predominantly used oral or inhalation (mostly concentrates) to take their cannabinoid medicine. Unfortunately, many of the patients did not know the THC content of their dose.

Cannabis use was predominantly two to three times per day per patient, followed by an equal number of patients who either used once per day or three to four times per week. The average age was 61 years old and 56% were women.

52% of the patients reported that they did NOT experience intoxication, and of those that did experience intoxication, 84% reported that it was enjoyable or didn't interfere with daily tasks.

"Medical cannabis use was associated with clinical improvements in pain, function, and quality of life with reductions in prescription drug use; 73% either ceased or decreased opioid consumption and 31% discontinued benzodiazepines."

The full-text paper is here at LiebertPub.com.