Which CBD Products Should I Purchase?

Topical CBD products can help address pain or inflammation that’s at a specific area of your body, such as on the joints. The product won’t enter the bloodstream. So a topical CBD product isn’t designed to address systemic problem, but it may help directly on the skin.

Reliable topical CBD products don’t just mask pain or inflammation as some over-the-counter topical pain relief creams do. They actually can make the pain go away for a certain time period, says Matthew Halpert, an instructor of immunology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. This is because of the high concentration of cannabinoid receptors on the skin. Cannabinoid receptors are part of the body’s endocannabinoid system, a body-wide system discovered in the 1990s that affects many important functions.

Cannabinoid receptors are present throughout the body and are associated with pain sensation, appetite, immune function, mood and more. The chemicals produced by the body that interact within the EC system are called cannabinoids, and like THC and CBD, they interact with cannabinoid receptors.

Research done by Halpert, in collaboration with the company Medterra CBD in Irvine, California, has found that CBD is able to turn down the production of inflammatory markers like tumor necrosis factor alpha, which is made in overabundance by people who have conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.