With anti-inflammatory properties, cannabis is a great treatment for a host of skin conditions, including psoriasis. Studies show that cannabis can limit the skin cell growth responsible for this condition, and reduce other uncomfortable side-effects. Here’s how to treat psoriasis with cannabis.
What is Psoriasis?
This is a common and difficult chronic skin condition. It typically manifests as itchy, scaly and often red patches of skin on the joints. The condition results when the body has an autoimmune condition that produces skin cells too quickly. As a result, immature skin cells appear on the skin’s surface, resulting in discoloration.
Additionally, doctors warn that this condition can result in joint damage if it goes consistently untreated.
This isn’t only a physical condition: It can also affect your mental health. Two separate studies published by the National Psoriasis Foundation and the Archives of Dermatology link psoriasis to increased depression and anxiety.
The Endocannabinoid System: A Summary
Cannabis is an effective treatment for psoriasis for the same reason it remedies conditions from epilepsy to cancer tumors: The cannabinoids found in marijuana interact with the endocannabinoid system.
The endocannabinoid system stretches throughout the entire human body and controls a variety of critical functions. Mood, pain sensitivity, fertility and general homeostasis–the endocannabinoid system controls all these biological processes.
The endocannabinoid system is a network of cannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors. Since marijuana has its own naturally-forming cannabinoids, consuming cannabis has some incredible health benefits.
Here’s Why Cannabis Can Treat This Condition
Cannabis can treat several of psoriasis’ due to these interactions with the endocannabinoid system. Its main advantages are its anti-inflammatory and anti-itch properties, its ability to regulate pain, its function as an anti-depressant and its potential to affect rapid skin cell growth.
Cannabis is Anti-Inflammatory
This means that cannabis can treat a number of skin conditions. Marijuana can reduce the redness and itchiness common to people with psoriasis as well as eczema.
A study shows that cannabis’ anti-inflammatory properties extend to inflammation in the bowel. This means that medical marijuana can even treat Crohn’s disease.
An informal study conducted in Wales by the Gwynedd Cannabis Club discovered that cannabis can have incredible effects on psoriasis in only 9 days.
With three topical cannabis treatments a day, a woman with severe psoriasis was able to heal her skin.
Marijuana Helps Regulates Pain
Knowing how to treat psoriasis with cannabis includes understanding cannabis’ wide-ranging ability to regulate pain. This ranges from the intense pain of chemotherapy and HIV patients to the discomfort associated with psoriasis.
For this reason, cannabis, especially THC, is a healthful medicine for chronic conditions, such as psoriasis, that need lifelong discomfort management.
Cannabis Can Potentially Slow Skin Cell Growth
The main cause of this condition is rapid skin cell growth. One very promising study from 2013 shows that cannabis can slow skin cell growth. The endocannabinoid system’s cannabinoid receptors occur throughout the skin or epidermis.
The study found that activating CB1 receptors (a type of cannabinoid receptor) with cannabis limited the production of epidermal keratinocytes, the most common type of skin cell.
The study explains, “Since psoriasis is a chronic hyperproliferative, inflammatory skin disease, it is conceivable that the therapeutic modulation of CB signaling, which can inhibit both proliferation and inflammation, could win a place in future psoriasis management.”
Cannabis Can Improve Your Mood
Cannabis can be an effective treatment for depression. People with this skin condition are 39 percent more likely to experience depression. Additionally, they are 31 percent more at risk for anxiety.
The more severe psoriasis, the more likely the person will experience anxiety and depression.
Considering these statistics, cannabis could also offer psychological relief to people with psoriasis.
As Dr. Samir Haj-Dahmane from the Buffalo Institute on Addictions explains, “Using compounds derived from cannabis […] to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilize moods and ease depression.”
What to Buy
To treat skin problems, it is best to use an anti-inflammatory CBD topical. Don’t pick out something designed to relieve aches and pains.
Make sure that whatever oil or moisturizer you choose is as all-natural as possible, without any heavy metals or toxins. Consequently, you should avoid buying something online. Rather, you should spend some time (and money) at a dispensary to find a topical that won’t aggravate your skin condition.
Furthermore, to assuage other symptoms, your options range from topicals to edibles to smoking. However, if you are experiencing depression or pain, let your healthcare practitioner know.
Despite extensive and promising research, the FDA does not approve medical marijuana as a treatment for anything.
Final Hit: How To Treat Psoriasis With Cannabis
Initial research shows that cannabis has promising effects on this and other skin conditions. How to treat psoriasis with cannabis can range from potentially slowing skin cell growth and reducing inflammation, to relieving anxiety and depression.
Though government restrictions on medical marijuana prevent comprehensive research, initial studies and medical practitioners show great potential for treating psoriasis with cannabis.
