I just finished reading a recently published study looking at how medical cannabis consumption impacts quality of life (QOL). Though I was not surprised by the study’s results, reading it reminded me of an important lesson involving pain management. It is a lesson so many people have learned through their own personal experiences.
What is that lesson? It is that chronic pain is one of the most difficult conditions to live with. It can be so challenging that people are willing to do just about anything to relieve it. And for many, that means turning to things like medical cannabis and regenerative medicine therapies.
A Very Real Problem
Chronic pain is a very real problem in this country. An estimated 51.6 million American adults report chronic pain. That works out to about 21% of the adult population. Among the 51.6 million are 17.1 million who consider their pain high impact, which is to say pain severe enough to frequently limit work and daily life activities.
If you are in that larger group of people who report chronic pain, your pain may be severe enough to limit your activities. If you are in the smaller group, you are definitely limited by your pain. As such, your quality of life suffers.
On the other hand, perhaps you’re part of the 79% who don’t have firsthand experience with chronic pain. You do not know how easily pain can:
- Disrupt your daily life.
- Limit routine functioning.
- Keep you out of work.
- Limit your recreational activities.
To you, there may be a complete disconnect between chronic pain and QOL. This is not mentioned in order to condemn you. It is normal to be disconnected when you haven’t experienced something in person. But now that you know the reality, there is an opportunity for you to dig a little deeper and perhaps empathize with chronic pain sufferers.
More About the Study
As for the study mentioned at the start of this post, it involved some 400 medical cannabis patients who were new to the therapy. They were tracked and interviewed over the first three months of consumption. At the end of the trial period, participant surveys revealed remarkable improvements in pain levels, physical function, and mental wellbeing.
In short, overall QOL improved among the participants. Some noted greater improvements than others. But if you’ve ever suffered from chronic pain, you know that even marginal improvement is welcome. And this takes us back to alternative treatments like medical cannabis and regenerative medicine.
Not Fully Accepted Yet
Both medical cannabis and regenerative medicine have made great strides over the last two decades. Yet neither is universally accepted as appropriate for pain management. Don’t tell that to all the patients who visit the Beehive Farmacy in Brigham City, Utah. Like so many other states, chronic pain is the most common condition treated with medical cannabis in Utah. Patients visiting the Beehive Farmacy continue to use medical cannabis because it relieves their pain and improves their QOL.
As for regenerative medicine, the three most commonly utilized therapies are platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy, stem cell injections, and prolotherapy. Some patients swear by regenerative medicine for both pain relief and improved QOL.
The bottom line in all of this is that QOL matters. That’s the big lesson. Chronic pain can be extremely difficult to live with. So much so that no alternative therapy is off the table for some patients. If a patient enjoys less pain and better QOL by way of a treatment that western medicine frowns upon, so be it. That is just how chronic pain patients often feel.