How CBD Helps Heal Wounds

According to a recent report, a man in Canada with oral cancer found that medical cannabidiol (CBD) oil helped reduce the size of a wound on his cheek that the cancer had caused. He went on to describe how the cannabidiol treatment also helped lower his pain levels after the oral cancer further deconstructed his right cheek and placed a hole in it. This report was published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, and further studies went to describe how marijuana and its cannabinoids may work in helping reduce cancer patients’ pain.

Now, this case does not solidify that cannabidiol will 100 percent cure your wounds, but it does illicit a response for more research into this potential impact. The Canada man’s case “really validates what has been known for thousands of years about the utility of cannabinoids in so many different areas,” explains Dr. Vincent Maida, an associate professor in the Division of Palliative Care at the University of Toronte. Dr. Maida was the one who treated the Canada man in this case. He further explained, “Ancient cultures used cannabis extracts on wounds.”

The 44-year old Canadian man had been diagnosed with oral cancer three years prior to when he started feeling excruciating pain from a malignant wound in his right cheek. He had the tumor surgically removed and was undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, but the cancer still returned. According to the report, before the man visited Dr. Vincent Maida in Toronto, he had decided to stop any further traditional treatments for his oral cancer.

He predominantly tried different prescription drugs to relieve his pain, but it was only for the short-term. And along with these ineffective opioid medications, the man was receiving the nasty side effects that come along with these drugs, like drowsiness and constipation.

Initially, the man asked Dr. Maida to prescribe medical marijuana as treatment for his pain. Maida accepted and the man used marijuana and reported that it relieved his pain significantly and allowed him to slowly get off the prescription drugs he was taking. Unfortunately, the wound is his cheek grew and the cancer created a hole, causing him to stop using vaporized marijuana.

Not wanting to take opioid medications anymore, the man went back to visit Dr. Maida, and this time he wanted to be prescribed to medical CBD oil, which could be applied straight on the wound.

The Canadian man started applying the hemp oil directly on his wound four times each day. After a month, the man reported that the wound had stopped growing on his cheek and actually shrank by roughly 5 percent. He also reported that he felt relief about 10 to 15 minutes after each application of the cannabidiol, and the relief lasted for roughly 2 hours.

Unfortunately, after the first month and seeing promising results, the man’s overall condition was deteriorating further and was admitted to the hospital where he later died.

The exciting aspect of this report is that the oil seemed to be working as a treatment for the man’s wound. To this date, there are no concrete studies that have looked at cannabidiol’s therapeutic impact for wound treatment. Although after this report, researchers are now more curious in looking into this possible benefits. Dr. Anita Gupta, the vice chair of the Division of Pain Medicine at Drexel College of Medicine in Philadelphia stated this report “is really interesting” and urged for further research.