You spent one good day in the gym, and when you get out of bed two days later you immediately feel it: this will be one of those days walking down the stairs is equivalent to stepping on a Lego brick. Especially if you do not exercise regularly, muscle pain can seriously spoil your day. Fortunately, there is cannabis, because “smoking weed works really well against muscle pain”. Right?

Anyone who has ever been stoned will recognize the feeling of heavy legs and arms. That feeling is caused by the substance THC you can find in cannabis. THC relaxes your muscles. It is therefore a logical thought that this makes your muscle pain less severe. But what does science say about it? Not enough as far as we are concerned.

What do and don’t we know about cannabis for muscle pain?

Because scientists mainly look at the negative effects of cannabis, there aren’t many studies on its benefits. Scientific research into the effect of cannabis on muscle pain is unfortunately not being paid by anyone. Only in recent years, we see a small change in studies. Let’s take a look at what we already know about how cannabis works on muscles:

  • Cannabis is unlikely to have any effect on muscle protein synthesis. That is the process that ensures that proteins from food are converted into muscle tissue.
  • What we do know is that cannabis has anti-inflammatory properties. But it is unclear whether this affects the muscles.
  • Cannabis can help relieve chronic pain. That also has been proven. Muscle pain is also a type of pain, although not chronic, smaller studies that have been done indicate that cannabis can also relieve acute pain (which is the case with muscle pain). It works in the same way as if you were to take an aspirin or ibuprofen.

Because smoking cannabis can relieve muscle pain for a while, it is easier to start a new workout. In that regard, cannabis can help if you maintain a rigorous fitness schedule.

Sometimes it is also useful to ask people about their experiences. Because who knows more about the effect of cannabis: the scientists in white coats who have never smoked a joint, or the people who actually use cannabis for muscle pain? A survey of patients with muscle and bone pain (Musculoskeletal pain) who tried medicinal cannabis shows that participants experienced less muscle pain after using medicinal cannabis.

Joint, cream or oil: this is best for muscle pain

The survey was based on medicinal cannabis. There are also special CBD creams for muscle pain, and of course, you know cannabis oil, the normal cannabis that you can smoke, and edibles. But which form of cannabis works best for muscle pain? At least not edibles. If you eat a piece of space cake you will only feel its effect much later. And until then you still have muscle pain. Moreover, edibles are and remain difficult to dose.

You should, therefore, try the creams and gels with hemp in them. You can easily buy this online for little money and they can’t hurt anyway. You can come to us for a good-old joint for after your workout. It works much faster than edibles. You should feel less muscle pain within 10 minutes. A few hits are enough, there is really no need to get stoned. Also not very useful if you have to work with weights at the gym.

Another nice side effect of smoking a joint is that you can sleep well, which is good for the recovery of your muscles. All in all, it seems that cannabis not only works for chronic diseases that cause pain, such as rheumatism but also ensures that the “normal” muscle pain is somewhat less. Now let’s see when the scientists will officially confirm this.

Try it out for yourself

Would you like to test whether smoking cannabis works against muscle pain? Our coffeeshop in Amsterdam is open daily. We have taken measures concerning the coronavirus so that we can open safely. We are easily accessible for those who live or work in Amsterdam, Amstelveen, or the Schiphol region. Plan the fastest route to coffeeshop The Border here.