Marijuana Tampons: How cannabis treat menstrual pain
There is hardly a woman who has never experienced pain during menstruation - and some of us only manage to lie and suffer these days. The pain knocks out of the rut, does not allow to do ordinary things and fully work - and it seems that all means are good in fighting it. In particular, cannabis tampons specifically designed to relieve menstrual pain appeared in the United States. We understand whether marijuana can really help.
Tampons but not quite
The company created Foria “tampons” with marijuana - it specializes mainly in lubricants, which include cannabis extract. After marijuana was legalized in several states, the company came up with tools to help relax during sex. And then it was decided to use a pacifying effect and to help women cope with the pain during menstruation.
In fact, of course, these are not tampons - they do not absorb secretions. These are suppositories, that is, candles, which consist of cocoa butter (they say hemp medical candles smell like cookies) and cannabinoids. The active substance is absorbed through the vaginal mucosa and reduces muscle spasms. Manufacturers claim that the dose of narcotic substances is such that it relieves pain, but cannot cause euphoria.
Together with candles, you can use any hygiene products - even tampons, which are recommended to be injected fifteen to twenty minutes after suppositories. Packing candles costs forty-four dollars, they are available in California and Colorado. While this tool is not registered by the FDA and is not considered a medicine, and clinical studies have not been conducted. But Foria is no longer the only company that uses the legalization of marijuana in order to alleviate menstrual pain. Actress Whoopi Goldberg also started the production of cannabis-based products - bath salt, herbal tincture, shower gel and even cocoa, designed to alleviate the state during menstruation.
Why monthly - it hurts
Many women at any age face painful periods. Sometimes their cause lies in certain diseases, but pain can also occur with a completely healthy reproductive system. In this case, discomfort in the lower abdomen and pain in the abdomen, back and head - this is the work of prostaglandins. These chemicals are responsible for transmitting pain signals from receptors to the brain - and it is during menstruation that some women get more than they need, especially during uterine contractions. Someone endures pain harder than others - this is due to genetic features.
Unfortunately, there is still no specific treatment for this particular problem. If a specific cause (such as inflammation of the pelvic organs) can be managed, then primary dysmenorrhea — when menstruation pain arises by itself, without additional factors — is a chronic condition with which many women have to live before menopause. Often not bad help drugs with antiprostaglandin mechanism of action - the same ibuprofen - that need to be taken without waiting for severe pain, and when there is a feeling that it is about to appear.
Of course, painkillers do not help everyone the same way, and they have enough side effects. Good effect gives hormonal contraception - it replaces the natural cycle artificial, at the same time eliminating all the problems accompanying it. But, of course, this method is not for everyone. Traditional methods (for example, certain poses from yoga or decoctions) operate mainly due to the placebo effect. An extreme variant is an operation that destroys the nerve endings inside the uterus, but this is a complex intervention that does not give guarantees. In general, the question of how to make menstruation less painful remains open.
What does the marijuana
One of the ways to relieve pain is to relax the smooth muscles of the uterus, so that the spasms do not lead to the release of pain mediators. As stated in the expert commentary of Broadly, which decided to test "tampons" with marijuana, cannabis helps to reduce the intensity of muscle spasms, increasing blood flow and oxygen supply to the tissues, causing discomfort to decrease.
The main active substances of marijuana are cannabinoids, in particular, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The first has a psychoactive effect and helps relieve pain, the second reduces inflammatory processes. Together they relax the muscles. According to the test results of Broadly magazine, it really works: the discomfort disappears approximately twenty minutes after the suppository has been applied, and no psychotropic effects are observed. True or not, it is difficult to say - in scientific journals there are no reviews or studies on this topic.
When should we wait for anesthetic swabs
It is unlikely that we can seriously expect that someone will come up with special hygiene products that help to survive the difficult periods. Perhaps this is due to the fact that menstrual pain is not a matter of life and death, and if it does not pose a risk to reproductive health, it is not very interesting for researchers and pharmaceutical companies. In the end, painkillers on the shelves of pharmacies are already enough. In addition, the topic of the legalization of marijuana and its use is too explosive, but medicine has not yet decided what is more beneficial or harmful in cannabinoids.
Of course, cannabis was used for pain relief from time immemorial, but evidence-based medicine has so far paid more attention to the harmful effects of marijuana. It has been proven that marijuana can be effective in treating chronic pain, suppress nausea in people undergoing chemotherapy, and improve sleep. But if the benefits of marijuana's analgesic effect on people with terminal cancer clearly outweigh the potential harm, it’s too early to talk about the balance of benefits and risks when used monthly for young healthy women.
In addition, given the psychoactive effects of cannabinoids, they are now actively studying how they affect the nervous system - for example, can they help with epilepsy or Parkinson's disease. Much of the research on marijuana is still devoted to the harmful effects of its non-curative use - but the medical community has recognized that data on the properties of cannabis are not enough. However, we can only talk about it theoretically so far: there is no foreseeable use of marijuana for medical purposes in Russia.
Photo:Foria
