Wrong place, wrong time
Sometimes life throws us a curve that brings us the opportunity to learn with it. For me, I learned more is more.
About a month ago, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and involved in a freak accident. First, a heavy impact from the side knocked me off my feet backward. In a heap on the floor, the pain was excruciating. Then, when my husband tried to help me up, my left leg wouldn’t support me, and the tiniest amount of twist or lateral knee movement had me in agony.
It earned me my first ambulance ride. The X-rays revealed a broken femur just above my total knee replacement: next stop, surgery to repair and reinforce. A day later, the orthopedic doctor installed a plate that extended from an anchor in the knee replacement up the femur to anchor into my hip replacement. Yup, a super bionic woman now.
They sent me home to elevate, ice, and keep all weight off the leg. I had a whole routine of prescription pain killers, aspirin, acetaminophen, and bone-supporting supplements.
Pain management
Wanting to move away from the narcotics as soon as possible, I reached out to a professional colleague. Bonnie’s a nurse who traveled extensively, studying the power of cannabis. She immediately offered some suggestions and sent me a healing package.
That healing package is where I learned there really is a distinct difference in strengths, and more really is more.
Supplements – is more better?
I’d tried using CBD capsules for minor arthritis pain. But, the topicals always seemed to do more than the supplements. Then, a colleague suggested I bump up the CBD capsules from the typical few grams to 25mg daily. It didn’t take long for me to notice improvement.
Bonnie suggested I set aside my current regime and, for ten days, take a loading dose of CBD100mg daily. The only caveat was that if I felt lightheaded or dizzy to stop taking it and reach out to her. Feeling lightheaded would indicate I had reached my max tolerance level. My body had plenty to use from and didn’t need more.
I completed the ten-day regime and then dropped to my standard 25mg dose with no side effects. The only thing I noticed during loading was a case of the munchies. The desire to snack seemed to fade away once I reduced the dose.
Topicals can be more
The other thing Bonnie sent me was two topicals. She suggested using them repeatedly and generously. KannaFREEZE is a soothing balm with menthol and 250mgpure hemp oil extract. The other is a unique CBG formula with 2000mg of CBG/CBD. I didn’t know they made anything like this.
Having tried topicals with the hip and knee replacements, I didn’t have a lot of expectations for the topicals. I was surprised—shocked is more like it. A 2000mg blend behaved far differently than the typical CBD topical I’d experienced. (Most are in the 200mg – 450mg range.) It quickly calmed from knee to hip.
Formulations matter
As a skin care specialist, I’ve studied product ingredients and penetration. Of course, we know some products can penetrate, but the skin is very efficient at its job of protection. Yet, with this lotion, I felt less discomfort almost instantly.
At the four-week mark, I’m seeing less knee swelling and can tell the bone is healing. I’ve reduced pain management to a couple of acetaminophens twice daily and liberal use of the topicals.
If you’re looking for topical relief products, it’s essential to look at the ingredients, the dosage, and how it’s formulated. How are they delivering it beyond the surface of the skin?
Superficial discomfort, or small joint arthritis, does well with low doses. However, deeper or more intense issues may respond better to higher doses and formulas created to enhance penetration.
It’s one time that more really IS more.
Thx