Improve Your Self-Care Routine with an Ohio Medical Marijuana Recommendation

Improve Your Self-Care Routine with an Ohio Medical Marijuana Recommendation

Self-care has become an increasingly important part of life for many people. As both mental health and physical health awareness has risen, so has our recognition of the “small things” we do every day to keep ourselves healthy. These acts of self-care can range from going for a walk to doing basic preventative care. 

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What is Self-Care and Why is it Important?

Self-care can mean different things to different people, but essentially it is any practice we undergo to improve our health or wellbeing. This is a pretty broad definition, but self-care is a pretty broad idea. Making sure we get enough sleep is self-care, keeping our hygiene up to par is self-care, even taking our prescribed medications can be self-care. 

Because self-care encompasses so many things, what may seem like small steps that do not have much influence in the moment can snowball into big improvements, or problems, later. For example, if one person were to carefully watch what they ate, got enough sleep every night, and exercise, they would be at a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and adult-onset diabetes [1]. Cases like this make it clear that self-care is a vital part of preventative medicine. However, it is also important to remember that self-care is not just for those without diseases or conditions and some practices can have an even larger effect in people with some illnesses. 

While self-care may seem like a recent idea to many, research on the effects of self-care (or lack thereof) has been going on for decades. From this research, we have found that self-care practices can greatly improve the health of many patients, though many are still unable to maximize this benefit [2]. Whether it is due to social, economic, or physical barriers, finding new ways to help people get the most out of their self-care routine is becoming a growing area of concern for both physicians and researchers. 

How Can Medical Marijuana Improve Self Care?

Marijuana can have profound effects on the mind and body. By binding to different receptors, the chemicals in marijuana can fight inflammation, raise mood, and change the way our brains respond to different stimuli. Because of this range of effects, medical marijuana is currently being used by many people for a variety of reasons. In Ohio there are over twenty qualifying conditions, most of which themselves can benefit from medical marijuana in several ways.

The most common reason people seek out medical marijuana, at least in Ohio, is chronic pain. According to the OMMCP (Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program), over half of all medical marijuana patients had chronic and severe or intractable pain as a qualifying condition [3]. It is notoriously difficult to treat as it can have many causes, both physical and mental. Unfortunately, this can lead to it being misdiagnosed, poorly treated, or outright ignored, causing severe psychological and emotional distress. As a result, individuals with chronic pain are at higher risk of depression and anxiety, which themselves can cause further problems. In cases like this, proper self-care is paramount and can lead to faster recovery and a better quality of life. This is also where medical marijuana fits into many patient’s lives. It can work to alleviate both physical and mental stressors depending on the strain and form.

For people with chronic pain specifically, medical marijuana may be able to help either complement or replace traditional analgesics [4]. To do this, some researchers believe that the CBD present in medical marijuana works to fight inflammation, which has been found in some animal models [5]. Furthermore, it has been found in vitro that CBD is able to bind to human TPVR1 receptors, which are common targets for pain medications due to its involvement in sensing and modulating pain signals [6]. Even in people with weak or moderate chronic or episodic pain, being able to fight or reduce these symptoms can bring about great psychological and physical benefits. 

Another recurring theme in self-care is getting more “in touch” with one’s emotional and physical state and learning how to recognize things that may be out of the ordinary or destructive. People do this in many ways, including yoga, hiking, and meditation. All these examples are forms of self-care and have been found to have positive effects on most people. Meditation, for example, has recently become a hotbed of scientific research due to its rise in popularity in western countries. It has been found that mindful meditation can exert physical changes on the brain and may even help manage pain and reduce cardiovascular risk [7][8].

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a growing group of people who have started using marijuana to amplify or compliment their meditation. Stemming from research showing marijuana’s anti-anxiety effects [9], some users believe that it allows them to more easily clear their mind and reach a deeper, more mindful state. 

In Conclusion

Self-care is a great form of both preventative medicine and emotional therapy. In taking the necessary time to ensure our bodies can rest and recuperate, we are better able to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. 

Some practitioners believe that medical marijuana can complement traditional methods of self and that even taking medical marijuana is a form of self-care in and of itself. They point out the physical and mental benefits to those with CINV and chronic pain and how it allows them to regain some normalcy in many cases. 

Become an Ohio medical marijuana patient today! Schedule your in-person or Telemedicine exam at DocMJ.com or call (877) 899.3626.

Resources

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5527334/

[2] https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000228

[3] https://www.medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov/Documents/advisory-committee/Meeting%20Materials/2020-07%20(July)/MMAC%20Updates%20July%202020.pdf

[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26103031/

[5] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28885454/

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1573017/

[7] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25376753/

[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5721815/

[9] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26341731/