Healing Outside the Box Using Cannabinoids

It’s been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.  Tell this to my friend Margaret whose cat scratched her on the ankle months ago.  What started so innocently soon became more and more inflamed and today that scratch has developed into a dangerous and rare skin condition called Pyoderma Gangrenosum.

Every single day, health care workers come into Margaret’s condo to torture her by cleaning and bandaging this ever-growing and excruciatingly painful skin ulcer.  They’re doing the same thing over and over again expecting it to suddenly heal, the bacteria to suddenly die, the skin to suddenly start growing again.  

In the past several months, the normal route of treatments have been explored and exhausted.  Oral antibiotics, oral steroids; then topical antibiotics and topical steroids.  So many side effects and so much pain!  Cat scratch fever has nothin’ on this bacterium!

Our current healthcare industry relies on strict guidelines for treatment.  An alternative therapy like Colloidal Silver, Oregano Oil, Manuka Honey, or topical Cannabis oil would normally never be considered in this situation but if she were my mom she’d likely be using all four.  Margaret’s future days will undoubtedly be filled with this same repetition of attempted sterilization, antibacterial topical treatment, and rebandaging.  To Margaret, it truly feels like insanity.

With human error, increasing global temps, and ingeniously pervasive and adaptable microorganisms, healing eludes us these days.  Even the most efficient sterilization methods can’t kill some of these conditions.  Just look at MRSA!  Every single day these miniscule and at times almost invisible organisms disprove the correlation between size and survival.

A fight like this takes some out-of-the-box thinking and many of our scientists and researchers are willing to explore these oft-shunned treatments.  For instance, we now know that there are cannabinoid receptors in the skin so it follows that activating an endogenous system will further healing.  This study from 2016 very clearly shows incredible benefits upon activation of the CB2 receptors immediately resulting in lowered inflammation, lessened pus output, accelerated production of tissue, and accelerated skin healing and closure.

Margaret’s condition is rare but has been studied extensively.  It’s even been studied in conjunction with cannabinoid therapy and this study shows clear and effective pain reduction with activation of those receptors in three separate cases.

Researching different conditions is getting predictable lately since so many are proving to be treated by cannabinoids.  I have to believe though that if you and I are making homemade Cannabis topicals and stronger oils, the producers’ R&D teams are too.  But further to this, it’s time that Western medicine start appreciating and using the power of Cannabinoids.  Give them time, we all see the light eventually!