One of the most frequent questions doctors get is, “Does CBD for carpal tunnel really work?” The quick answer to the question is “sometimes”.

Not much clinical research has tested CBD’s effectiveness in treating carpal tunnel syndrome. However, anecdotal reports by thousands of patients show that at times, it works amazing well.

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CBD or “cannabidiol” is an extract from the marijuana plant, cannabis sativa. There are several ways manufacturers can extract the oil from cannabis. The methods were designed to obtain pure oil that does not degrade in the extraction process. 

Today, people with musculoskeletal pain and chronic arthritis are by far the most prevalent consumers of therapeutic cannabis products, including CBD oil. And cannabis products are gaining popularity every year for serious conditions ranging from pain to chronic depression. So it's natural for patients to inquire about CBD for carpal tunnel pain.

CBD by itself does not have psychoactive properties. Even though it comes from the marijuana plant, the compounds that give you the “high” (tetrahydrocannabinol or THC ) are not present in a pure CBD extract. 

Be aware that some manufacturers take shortcuts in the extraction process. The result is that it leaves some THC in the final CBD product. Makers of CBD oil are infamous for this sloppy process. However, even then, most of the THC is well below the levels that give you the "high". Note that an impure CBD product usually costs much less than a pure extract product.

Aside from the enormous volume of anecdotal reports, the few clinical trials conducted demonstrate that CBD has some powerful effects on the human body. The main effects are:

1. Anti-inflamatory (reduces swelling and inflammation)
2. Anti-spasmodic (suppresses muscle spasms)
3. Anti-convulsive (suppresses seizures)

Overall, we know CBD also protects against bone diseases and maintains brain health. Other physiological properties of CBD are less well-established.

CBD’s most widely known function is in pain management. This is because of CBD’s well-known anti-inflammatory effects.

Inflammation is the underlying cause of pain. Therefore, CBD’s role in pain reduction is no real surprise. And this is why CBD for carpal tunnel pain is such a hot topic.

To understand why CBD for carpal tunnel pain can be effective, you must understand what causes pain in general. Inflammation and pain are the body’s response to tissue injury and infection. The body's inflammatory response happens in two phases; acute and chronic. 

The acute phase of inflammation is the beginning of the response. It starts with local dilation of blood vessels and greater capillary permeability. Also, fluid and blood proteins fill the affected area. Simultaneously, specialized cells (neutrophils) invade the site. Also, inflammatory chemicals (histamine, cytokines and lymphokines) are released into the damaged tissue. Essentially, it sets up the body for long term or “chronic inflammation”.

The chronic phase of inflammation is what we see as a “disease state”. Such disease states include, for example, arthritis, asthma, carpal tunnel syndrome, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. While acute inflammation and pain can be severe, it’s the chronic phase that endures and greatly impacts a person’s life.

The chronic phase is also where CBD has its main influence. CBD acts on receptors responsible for pain due to inflammation. This is the key to its reported effects on relieving pain from various chronic conditions. And it's the reason CBD for carpal tunnel pain works.

An amazing property of CBD is that it can lock onto receptors located on the body’s cell walls. These are the cannabinoid receptors, which make up a large portion of the body’s endocannabinoid system.

The receptors occur naturally on most cells. And the receptors regulate different types of physiological processes. One of the main processes involves the way the body deals with pain sensations.

When a body has a lot of cannabinoid receptors, it becomes more sensitive to the natural endocannabinoids produced by that body. The interesting thing about these receptors is they're located on just about every cell in everyone’s body. That’s why CBD has such varied uses in conditions from arthritis to depression. 

Scientists describe CBD’s overall action as promoting homeostasis which means “maintaining balance”. In other words, wherever in the body there’s inflammation, CBC can bind to the local receptors, reduce inflammation, and restore balance.

You might think of CBD as one of the “regulators” of body function, especially when it comes to pain.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful type of neuropathy. In this case, a neuropathy means there’s a problem with the median nerve which is located deep inside your wrist joint. 

Carpal tunnel syndrome can start as you repetitively stress your fingers and hand. That’s why certain jobs like assembly line workers, hairdressers, graphic artists, hand tool users and musicians are famous for having severe carpal tunnel symptoms. 

As you stress your hand's tendons more and more, they begin to inflame and swell. When they do, they push against the median nerve inside the wrist joint. Eventually, the swollen tendons swell so much they crush the median nerve. This is what produces all of the hand or finger pain from carpal tunnel syndrome.

Most people with carpal tunnel also feel numbness or tingling in their fingers and hand. But these symptoms happen for the same reason as pain.

In essence, carpal tunnel pain emanates from a crushed median nerve deep inside the wrist joint. Like the rest of the body, this area has numerous pain receptors. In fact, joints in general have a greater amount of pain receptors than most other body parts.

A large proportion of these receptors are cannabinoid receptors, which mediate pain. CBD can "turned off” these receptors.

Therefore, CBD for carpal tunnel is a good remedy. It acts on cannabinoid receptors to reduce inflammation and ultimately, pain. 

But it’s not so black and white. If CBD worked 100% of the time as a pain reducer, it would be the ONLY pain relieving compound anybody would ever need! The sad fact is that CBD for carpal tunnel pain does not work for everyone.

Since inflammation plays a major role in so many diseases, the potential of CBD is huge. Today, people use CBD oil as an oral or topical application to combat the pain from many kinds of diseases.

But everyone's experience with CBD is different. That's because there are at least four factors (or variables) to consider with each person's CBD application and need. These are:

• What kind of pain (or disease) is targeted?
• How good is the CBD absorption rate through the skin and underlying tissues when topically applied? 
• How deep must the CBD penetrate to its target when topically applied?
• What's a person's individual response or sensitivity to CBD?
  

CBD’s greatest effects seem to be for pain that’s near the surface of the skin. That’s because some topical compounds can easily penetrate and reach pain receptors from above.

But for pain receptors deeper inside the body, like inside the wrist joint, CBD may not get to the receptors as easily. This may be one reason why CBD seems to work so well in some people with more superficial problems, like arthritis. But it may not work so well when topically applied for carpal tunnel syndrome.

In addition, one person’s chemical absorption rate is different than another’s. So there’s no wonder why reports range so widely about the effectiveness of CBD for carpal tunnel syndrome. Whether taken orally or applied topically, results vary from ”not effective” to “amazingly effective”. 

Bottom line: Try CBD topically or orally and see if your body responds well.

CBD can be delivered to the body in many different forms such as edibles, lotions, tinctures, creams, and even skin patches. These methods get the highest concentration of CBD to the affected area. This is why proponents usually see good relief from sore muscles with topical CBD application.

In contrast, delivering CBD to the body orally or by inhalation (like vaping) gets it into the blood faster. But it also has a shorter time to be effective. Furthermore, when taken orally or vaped it is diluted many hundreds of times before it reaches the receptors in the affected area. This might be the key problem with using vaped or oral CBD for carpal tunnel syndrome.

CBD has some mild side effects. They usually occur with higher does and taking it for longer periods of dosing time (usually for several weeks). The side effects include:

• Dry mouth
• Low blood pressure
• Light headedness
• Dizziness
• Drowsiness

However, with its relative good safety profile, most doctors advocate trying CBD to see if it relieves a particular condition. This includes taking oral or topical CBD for carpal tunnel syndrome. You may be one of the lucky ones who see "amazingly effective" results.

Many people use oral or topical CBD for carpal tunnel syndrome to relieve pain. But does it really work? Science tells us that it can have an amazing effect in some people but not in others.