Tag: CBD topicals

All about CBD topicals 

You’ve probably used CBD in one way or another, and you might’ve heard about these topicals. Are they worth it? 

Read on to find out a bit more about CBD topicals, the benefits, and the best ways to use these as well. 

What are these 

Topicals by definition are basically products that are applied directly onto your skin. 

CBD types use CBD in order to properly soothe the skin, help provide nourishment, and also improve the appearance of such. 

They can help with relieving dryness, improving the look of the skin, and also helping with inflammation and other skin conditions that may be a problem. 

There are different types including: 

  • Oils that infuse CBD in them, creating full-spectrum products 
  • Creams that moisturize the skin and offer a firmer barrier 
  • Lotions that have more water, are lighter, don’t have grease, and will maintain hydration 
  • Balm s which are solidified oils that melt directly into your skin 

How it works 

Basically, when they’re used they get absorbed into the endocannabinoid system, which is a network that has different receptors that can help with everything from the nervous to the immune system to even the skin and your digestive tract. 

The ECS is all over the place, and pretty much, the goal of this is balance. This prevents you from being also wand sluggish as well. 

It can be used to help keep everything properly in balanced, and it can do it in defend ways: 

  • Proliferate which helps with skin cell preproduction. When out of control this causes psoriasis 
  • Differentiation for functions 
  • Helping to reduce immune response in your skin area. 

How it interacts is simple. pretty much the substance goes from high concentration to lower concentration. 

The epidermis is a few layers that are the primary barrier. The dermis is below this, and while created with elastic tissue and collagen, it has nerve endings, capillaries, follicles, and also glands too. When CBD gets here, it goes to the bloodstream.

The CBD comes in contact with keratinocytes at the outer layer, and it can help preserve the endocannabinoids at the epidermis too, and it can help with topical wounds, itching, various acne, and even control the growth of hair as a result of this. 

It can go into the bloodstream, but for the most part it rarely makes it all the way down to the capillary level. 

But if you put it on the forearm, neck, head, or trunk, or even inflamed areas, it can immediately go there. 

The benefits? 

Well, we did go through a bit of the benefits, but when tested on humans, there are some treatment effects that can benefit rom this, including eczema and others. 

Soothing, reddened and sensitive kind of skin chapped and rough skin, and even aging can possibly be changed with the use of this. 

There are very rare side effects wit this. Sometimes though, for some people it may cause dermatitis, but that applies to any kind of application of this. 

Because the side effects of this are usually experienced when the CBD gets to the bloodstream, there might be other effects, including diarrhea, fatigue, headaches, and even changes in the appetite and also changes in your weight too.

But is it safe to use? The short answer is yes, it’s overall pretty safe to use. If you’re not sure whether or not it’s good for the skin, do a test patch on your skin before applying it to the larger area. If you notice that there isn’t a response, it’s good to use there too.

Marijuana and Lithium 

There are certain medications that some people use, and it can cause severe side effects. One of them is lithium and cannabis. It’s something that you should definitely try not to take together, and here, we’ll go over what happens if you take both of these, and why it’s frowned upon for you to do so. 

What Lithium Is 

Lithium is a medication that you take orally to treat bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and also manic disorders. It also reduces self-harm, aggression, and behaviors that are suicidal. You usually get this in a liquid or a tablet form. 

You must be over 12 to have this and have no kidney and thyroid problems, as it can affect both. Your doctor will get blood samples and sometimes an ECG before you can take lithium. 

The side effects include: 

  • Diarrhea 
  • Weight gain 
  • Dry mouth 
  • Thirst 
  • Metallic tastes in your mouth 
  • Tiredness 
  • Tremors 
  • Nausea along with vomiting 

You should never suddenly stop taking this though, and always discuss this with a doctor before your stop, as it might be dangerous. 

The mechanism on how this works isn’t definitely known, but it can affect the CNS and the brain when you take this. 

Some of the effects that lithium has include the following: – stopping the growth of specific enzymes that’ll stop the growth of cells 

Increasing the brain cell density for those with bipolar 

Increasing the concentration of the neuronal markers of your brain cells and the health of this 

Protecting the neurons from cell death 

The Risk of this 

There are a lot of risks that you should be mindful of, as they’re much more profound than just the benefits that might be there. First thing is the lithium toxicity. When you mix lithium with cannabis, it causes a lithium overdose. CBD also can interact with this. 

In severe instances, this can be fatal. The kidneys are able to excrete most of the lithium, with the rest of it leaving through feces and sweat.  This is not metabolized, and if your kidneys are struggling to excrete it as it metabolizes, it can accumulate within the blood, increasing the risk. 

This also can cause cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which is where you start to vomit excessively after using cannabis.  This is definitely something that’s majorly increased in the use of lithium and like. 

It also reduces the effectiveness of lithium, due to the way that the cannabinoid receptors can impact the enzymes necessary to break down these chemicals too. 

There are also some really bad side effects, especially if you mix these together. 

The side effects include: 

  • Cardiac arrest 
  • Dizziness 
  • Coma 
  • Drowsiness 
  • Itching 
  • Hives 
  • Respiratory depression 
  • Palpitations 
  • Shortness of breath 
  • Seizures 
  • Sluggish feelings 

This is something you do not want to mess around with, so if you experience any of the side effects listed above after taking this, it’s vital that you get to the ER before it’s too late. 

If you do wish to mix them, do not do this before talking to your doctor, as they can help with figuring out better and other treatment methods, and also go through the other side effects and the interactions at hand. 

If you mix these, do keep them in mind. If you noticed any of the other factors that are listed above, you should definitely be mindful. 

Finally, keep in mind that lithium toxicity also can happen, which includes all of those symptoms above, but weakness, uncontrollable feelings, and also vomiting.