What Is It Like to Use CBD Cream for Pain?
Key takeaways:
CBD creams and balms are popular options for easing muscle and joint pains.
The FDA hasn’t approved any over-the-counter CBD products for medicinal purposes, but many people say these creams help them manage pain.
Here, three people share their experiences using CBD for pain relief.
CBD product sales are projected to reach $4.4 billion in 2024. Although CBD comes from the cannabis plant, it isn’t an intoxicating compound on its own.
Many people use CBD products not just for pain relief but also to manage anxiety and depression, improve sleep, and enhance focus. About 60% of people using CBD do so to relieve pain. CBD is popular for pain management, but scientific evidence proving its effectiveness remains limited.
Below, three people share their experiences using CBD creams and balms to manage pain.
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A knee injury sidelined his active lifestyle
Zach Carney, a 30-year-old media consultant in Boston, tore his meniscus in a skiing accident in 2022. As a runner who completed the Boston Marathon, Zach was no stranger to muscle pain. Initially, he treated the injury with a massage gun and stretching. But before his meniscus could heal, he reinjured his knee 3 months later when he fell while playing softball.
“I woke up in the middle of the night with my knee the size of an orange,” Zach says. “I woke up to an incredible amount of pain and a large, good amount of swelling.”
While he was in physical therapy, he explored CBD creams. He researched reputable brands online and selected a balm from a company that provided clear scientific information about its products.
He applied a fingertip-size amount to his knee once or twice a day. Within a few minutes, he says, he felt a cooling, soothing effect.
“I would use it after physical therapy sessions or even before PT to try to get through some of the tougher, more strenuous exercises, and then before going to bed,” Zach says.
After consistent use, he says, his pain decreased by about one-third. After he completed physical therapy, Zach had knee surgery. Now he’s back to running regularly and living an active lifestyle. When he has muscle pain, he still uses a CBD balm or cream to ease the pain. He says he’s glad he found a CBD cream that gives him pain relief.
“I’d used the cheapest brands, and they were fine,” Zach says. “Then I said, ‘OK, let me see what else is out there.’ And I went for a higher-quality product. I liked that the founders were physical therapists versus a random brand on Amazon.”
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Osteoarthritis pain wakes him up at night
Doran Whisman, 62, of Reno, Nevada, wakes up at night with intense pain in his hands and knuckles from osteoarthritis. The pain is even worse when he wakes up the next day, says Doran, who receives disability benefits.
Osteoarthritis is a condition that wears down the cartilage and bone in your joints. Over time, this damage gets worse, causing pain, swelling, and changes in joint shape. In Doran’s case, the cartilage in his hands has completely worn away.
“My hands lock up overnight, unable to move,” he says. “It’s called trigger fingers, so your fingers are kind of crooked and lock up either open or closed.”
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Doran describes the pain as “a stabbing, shooting pain” in his knuckles. He has tried CBD oils and creams before. But they did nothing for his pain.
Three months ago, he bought a roll-on full-spectrum CBD balm. Full-spectrum CBD products contain trace amounts (less than 0.3%) of THC. THC is a psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant. But this tiny amount of THC is too low to cause psychoactive effects for most people.
THC and other cannabis plant compounds in full-spectrum CBD provide what’s known as the entourage effect. That’s because the compounds work together to more fully address the pain. Doran applied CBD balm to his hands and fingers before going to bed and in the morning.
A week and a half later, Doran’s hands started to feel better.
“It cut the pain in half,” he says. He compares the pain after using CBD to the headache that remains when managing a migraine. Feeling only half the pain is a big improvement, he says.
Over 3 months of using a CBD balm, Doran says his pain has continued to improve. He has also started wearing compression gloves at night, which helps his joint pain.
“It’s like having a spring on the outside so your fingers don’t bend all the way closed,” he says. “It’s never going to be perfect until I have surgery on my hands. But right now, it’s livable.”
For others who want to try CBD for pain, “Don’t expect anything overnight,” he says. “The more you use it, the better it gets.”
She uses CBD cream for various pain points
Roberta Wilson, a 63-year-old business owner in Los Angeles, started using CBD 5 years ago for various pains in her body. Roberta, whose cannabis edibles company once sold a line of CBD products, was already familiar with how CBD works. So she started applying her company’s leftover CBD cream to aches and pains all over her body.
Roberta applies CBD cream when she feels a strain in her arm, pain in her hip, or other pain.
“If I have a bad headache, I’ll rub it into my temples,” she says. Her pain isn’t excruciating — it’s more like a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10, she says.
“I put on a generous amount, enough to really lather up the area,” Roberta says. The CBD cream absorbs quickly. She says she usually feels relief within 15 to 20 minutes of applying it. Then she applies CBD cream every 2 to 3 hours when the effects start to fade.
Roberta was so happy with her pain-relief results that she gave CBD cream to her friends with arthritis pain. “They were blown away,” Roberta says of her friends’ feedback.
Because she’s gotten good results with reducing her pain with CBD, Roberta uses CBD cream daily. “Whatever is hurting at the time, I just rub it all over my body on all of those places,” she says.
Roberta knows she could possibly cut some of the pain in her hip or other parts of her body with stretching exercises. But she has a hard time fitting a stretching routine into her schedule.
“A lot of us don’t take the time to do that,” she says. “We’re looking for the shortest, quickest way to [reduce pain]. And I just find that CBD is so enormously effective.”
What does the pharmacist say?
Stacia Woodcock, PharmD
Pharmacy Editor
CBD is one of the active ingredients in the cannabis plant. Unlike its counterpart THC, CBD isn’t intoxicating and doesn’t cause a high when you consume it. In fact, CBD may help counteract the intoxicating effects of THC.
CBD is available over the counter, as long as there’s less than 0.3% THC in the product. You’ll often see CBD products sold as hemp. Hemp is a term for cannabis plants that contain little or no THC. So it’s a common source of CBD. But CBD can also be extracted from high-THC cannabis plants and even made synthetically. The CBD compound is the same regardless of where it comes from. But the source may play a role in how a CBD product affects you.
Full-spectrum CBD products contain CBD along with all the other active ingredients in the cannabis plant. These include terpenes, flavonoids, and other cannabinoids, including THC. Broad-spectrum CBD products are similar to full spectrum, but they don’t contain any THC. But they may contain other cannabinoids, such as cannabigerol (CBG) or cannabinol (CBN). CBD isolate products contain only CBD. Often, CBD isolate is lab-made — it’s not extracted from cannabis or hemp plants. The added ingredients in full- and broad-spectrum products may give added effects you won’t find with a CBD-only product.
Topical CBD products can vary widely. In most cases, CBD isn’t well absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream. So most topical products are effective for skin-related conditions only, since they won’t reach deeper into your muscle or joint when you apply them. Some CBD products are specially formulated to be transdermal, meaning they pass through the skin into deeper tissue or the bloodstream. Transdermal products may be more helpful for muscle or joint pain. But there’s not a lot of evidence to know for sure.
Keep in mind that CBD products aren’t regulated. Several studies have shown they often contain different ingredients or amounts than shown on the label. Purchasing CBD products from a licensed dispensary (if available in your state) can help ensure your safety. A healthcare professional can also recommend brands and provide personalized dosing instructions. They can also review your medical history and medication list to ensure CBD is a safe option for you.
Keep in mind that cannabis is legal in some states for personal and/or medicinal use, but not in others. Cannabis is still illegal under federal law.
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